Figure of the month: 494,000

Shipwrecks and lost treasures: countless myths and rumours surrounding the vast gold treasures on the floor of the ocean have always been a fascinating topic, to fortune hunters in particular. And sometimes for good reason: extremely valuable objects have, occasionally, been discovered. Last year, deep-sea cartography research company Magellan used high-resolution 3D photography to identify a necklace located right next to the Titanic. The necklace is adorned with a megalodon tooth set in gold – a monstrous shark ancestor up to 20 metres long that roamed the oceans more than 2.5 million years ago.

Every gold prospector’s dream: the ‘Ship of Gold’

It reads like a beautiful myth, but the legendary Ship of Gold really did exist. The SS Central America, its official name, set sail from the port of Colón on the Caribbean coast of Panama on 3 September 1857, bound for New York. But the sailors under Captain William Lewis Herndon were never to see the freedom of the seas. On 12 September, the 85-metre-long ship sank – along with its cargo of 494,000 ounces of gold, around 14 tonnes. It was not until 1988 that the wreck was located and the gold cargo recovered. Current value: over €1.1 billion.

An even greater treasure waiting to be recovered: the San José.

Also on the Caribbean seabed, the Spanish galleon San José was discovered only this year. It sank over 300 years ago and contains gold, silver and emeralds currently valued at around €15 billion. This treasure, at a total weight of 344 tonnes, remains on the seabed to date, as recovery is considered extremely difficult and expensive, and because various countries and interest groups have laid legal claim to its cargo.