Explorers find gold in Civil War-era shipwreck off Georgia

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- After searching the ocean for more than 10 years, marine explorers found crates of gold this week at the site of a Civil War-era shipwreck about 100 miles east of Savannah.

Archeologists and technicians from Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc., on Thursday found 80 gold coins and at least two wooden crates of gold coins buried in the sediment, said company spokeswoman Laura Lionetti Barton.

The gold's worth is not yet known, said Barton, who added the old coins must still be lifted very carefully from the ocean floor.

"We don't want to scratch them," Barton said.

Though Barton declined specific estimates Friday, she suggested last week that coins from the shipwreck could be worth more than $120 million.

In August, Odyssey's salvage crews found what they believed was the site where the side-wheel steamer SS Republic sank during a hurricane in 1865, Barton said.

Newspaper accounts at the time said 59 to 81 passengers were on board and 13 to 17 died, Barton said. The gold went down with the ship.