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SS CENTRAL AMERICA LEADER TOMMY THOMPSON FREEDThe biggest news to hit the wires this week was the release from jail of Tommy Thompson, the leader of the SS Central America shipwreck recovery who'd been held on contempt of court charges over the disappearance of 500 medals made from gold recovered from the ship. I first saw the news in this Associated Press article. The story was picked up many media outlets around the world. See the links below for more coverage. -Editor
Tommy Thompson, who in 1988 located what was known as the Ship of Gold off the coast of South Carolina, was released last Wednesday, according to federal Bureau of Prisons records reviewed by The Associated Press. Thompson, an Ohio-born research scientist, was hailed as a hero after finding the S.S. Central America and its thousands of pounds of sunken treasure that sat at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean for more than 150 years. But in the decades that followed, he battled with investors who accused him of cheating them out of millions and then spent years on the run as a fugitive before being sent to prison over rebuffing court orders while contending he didn't know what happened to 500 coins minted from the ship's gold. The Central America was filled with a big haul from the California Gold Rush when it sank in a hurricane in 1857. Four hundred and twenty-five people drowned, and thousands of pounds of gold were lost, contributing to an economic panic. Investors who backed Thompson's venture sued him in 2005, saying they had yet to receive any money from the $50 million sale of more than 500 gold bars and thousands of coins — just part of the ship's booty. Thompson, who was living in Florida, went into seclusion and then later became a fugitive when an Ohio federal judge issued a warrant for his arrest in 2012 after he failed to show up in court. Authorities tracked Thompson to a Florida hotel three years later. The judge then held him in contempt and sent Thompson to prison at the end of 2015 for refusing to answer questions about the location of missing coins. 
The SS Central America saga is one that never seems to end. Coincidentally, this week brought me a package from Adam Crum's Finest Known containing a nice Liberty Seated dime recovered from the wreck, along with some related books. I'm really happy with my purchase. I'll discuss this more in my Numismatic Diary next week. Back to the article - Dwight Manley of the California Gold Marketing Group was quoted on Thompson's unusually long prison stay. -Editor Dwight Manley, a California coin dealer who bought and sold nearly the entire fortune, said Monday that Thompson paid a heavy price over what he said amounted to a business dispute. "Going to prison for 10 years over a business dispute is not America," Manley said. "People kill people and get out in half the time." Sentences in civil contempt cases are somewhat indefinite, but they shouldn't go on forever, said Ryan Scott, a University of Florida law professor who researches contempt law and worked to secure Thompson's release. "It's very unusual to go on 10 years," Scott said. Thanks to Len Augsburger, Dick Hanscom, Aaron Oppenheim, Arthur Shippee, and others for passing the story along. So where is Thompson now? FWIW, the missing medals (containing 1,250 oz of gold, worth over $6M today) look like this: -Editor 
1855 Kellogg & Co. $50 Commemorative Restrike
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To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: Subscribe All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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