treasure

From CBS News

A cannon, three coins and a porcelain cup were among the first objects Colombian scientists recovered from the depths of the Caribbean Sea where the mythical Spanish galleon San José sank in 1708 after being attacked by an English fleet, authorities said Thursday.

The recovery is part of a scientific investigation that the government authorized last year to study the wreckage and the causes of the sinking. Colombian researchers located the galleon in 2015, leading to legal and diplomatic disputes. Its exact location is a state secret.

Dubbed the "holy grail of shipwrecks," the ship is believed to hold 11 million gold and silver coins, emeralds and other precious cargo from Spanish-controlled colonies, which could be worth billions of dollars if ever recovered.

President Gustavo Petro's government has said that the purpose of the deep-water expedition is research and not the treasure's seizure. Colombia's culture ministry said in a statement Thursday that the cannon, coins and porcelain cup will undergo a conservation process at a lab dedicated to the expedition. The wreckage is almost 2,000 feet deep in the sea.

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