After centuries beneath the sea, the 18th century Spanish warship San Jose has began to reveal the treasure it carried including millions of gold and silver coin.
The 64-gun galleon, part of the Spanish Navy, sank in 1708 near Cartagena, Colombia after an explosion during a battle with the British.
San Jose shipwreck is located about 600 meters (nearly 2,000 feet) underwater in the Caribbean but its precise location was kept secret.
This ship carried a huge treasure of 11 million gold and silver coins worth about $20 billion and it has now produced its first recovered treasures.
Colombia has begun recovering artifacts from the San Jose shipwreck with the first items including a cannon, three coins and some porcelain.
This recovery is part of a government-approved expedition to explore the wreck which was found in 2015.
There is disagreement and legal disputes between the United States, Colombia and Spain over who owns the treasure.
American group called Sea Search Armada claims they discovered the San José in 1982 and wants $10 billion, roughly half the treasure’s estimated value.
At the same time, Colombia says its mission is focused on research, and any recovered artifacts will be preserved and studied, not taken for profit.
The recovered coins, called macuquinas, are now at the National Museum of Colombia, and the other items from the shipwreck are being studied and preserved at a research center in the Caribbean.
