SS Republic
A Civil War–era steamer loaded with gold and silver coins—found 518 meters deep off the Georgia coast.
- Category
- shipwreck
- Status
- partially recovered
- Year lost
- 1865
- Region
- Atlantic Ocean
- Country
- United States
- Body of water
- Atlantic Ocean
The dossier
On October 18, 1865, just months after the Civil War ended, the sidewheel steamer SS Republic departed New York bound for New Orleans. She carried passengers and a massive cargo of gold and silver coins—money desperately needed to rebuild the shattered Southern economy. The coins were meant for banks and merchants who had nothing left after four years of war. Two days into the voyage, the Republic sailed straight into a Category 2 hurricane off the coast of Georgia. The crew fought the storm for over 24 hours, pumping water from the flooding hold. On the evening of October 25th, the ship broke apart and sank. Most of the passengers and crew escaped in lifeboats; only a handful perished. But the coins—tens of thousands of them—went to the bottom at 518 meters. The wreck remained undiscovered for 138 years. In 2003, Odyssey Marine Exploration located it using side-scan sonar and remotely operated vehicles. What they found was remarkable: over 51,000 gold coins and 262,000 silver coins, many in extraordinary condition, preserved by the cold deep water. Individual coins have sold at auction for over $100,000 each due to their Civil War provenance and condition. The recovery was one of the most technically complex deep-water salvage operations ever attempted, using ROVs to pick individual coins from the debris field. The operation continued for several years. Researchers believe a significant portion of the cargo may remain in unexplored sections of the debris field.
Cargo and value
Gold and silver coins, personal valuables, commercial cargo
Legal status
Recovered under admiralty law by Odyssey Marine Exploration. No competing sovereign claims. Recovery complete for mapped sections; additional debris fields may exist.