page_title: Brother Jonathan (steamer)
section_title: Modern recovery efforts
hierarchical_section_title: Brother Jonathan (steamer) / Modern recovery efforts
caption_attribution_description: English: Coin from the Brother Jonathan shipwreck THE BROTHER JONATHAN SHIPWRECK EXHIBIT: Coronet Type $5.00 Gold Piece. This coin, minted in 1852, was recovered from the Bro. Jonathan Wreck like the others. Coins like this one currently carry a value from $170 - $8,000 for the "D" series (Bressett: 1999). Source: California Government: In general, information presented on this web site, unless otherwise indicated, is considered in the public domain. It may be distributed or copied as permitted by law.
context_page_description: Brother Jonathan was a paddle steamer that struck an uncharted rock near Point St. George, off the coast of Crescent City, California, on July 30, 1865. The ship was carrying 244 passengers and crew, with a large shipment of gold. Only 19 people survived, making it the deadliest shipwreck up to that time on the Pacific Coast of the United States. Based on the passenger and crew list, 225 people are believed to have died. Its location was not discovered until 1993 and a portion of the gold was recovered in 1996.
context_section_description: Despite the fact that Brother Jonathan sank just 8 miles (13 km) from Crescent City, the storms, rocky passageways, underwater currents, and underwater darkness prevented it from being found. Technology needed to improve and explorers had to change their assumptions before the ship could be found. On the last day of their 1993 expedition, men involved with Deep Sea Research (DSR) decided that the ship had drifted underwater to hit bottom 2 miles (3 km) from where it smashed into the rock. Led by Donald Knight (whose father had found a piece of the wreckage), and under risky conditions, a mini-sub on October 1, 1993, discovered the ship in the predicted location.
  Over time, the team began to bring artifacts back from a depth of 275 feet (84 m).
  In 1996, a mini-sub passed a "glint" on the bottom, raising curiosity. On August 30, 1996, divers found 875 gold coins from the 1860s in near-mint condition. Over time, the salvors recovered 1,207 gold coins, primarily $20 double eagles.
  Among the thousands of other items eventually raised were 19th-century cut-crystal sherry glasses, white porcelain plates, beer mugs, terracotta containers (once holding mineral water from Germany), glassware, cups, glass containers, multi-faceted cruet bottles, wine and champagne bottles, crates of goods (including axe handles and doorknobs) and tinctures of medicine.
  While recovery efforts were being conducted, lawsuits flew around among the salvors, the State of California, and numismatic experts. California took the legal position that it owned the rights to the wreck and everything located close to its shores. As the state had enacted a broad law granting it these rights to "historical shipwrecks", it fought the salvor's claims of ownership. Although every judge along the way disagreed with California's position, a number of states with similar interests joined in the legal battle. Finally, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1998 unanimously held that existing federal law held precedence, declared the state's law(s) unconstitutional, and ruled for the salvors. However, California officials told DSR that they would take the fight up again to the Supreme Court on the facts, and the state received 20 percent of the recovered gold in a final settlement, as well as ownership of the wreck itself.
  In the first legally-recognized sale of all of the salvors' gold discovered from a sunken treasure ship, more than 500 bidders attended the auction of DSR's gold coins on May 29, 1999, in Los Angeles. The sale of its 1006 coins fetched a total of $6.3 million.
  Meanwhile, another debate had broken out over the authenticity of the gold bars recovered in the 1930s and sold in 1974. Numismatic experts attacked each other over the authenticity of the bars in a rare public controversy at the 1999 American Numismatic Association's annual convention. This also resulted in litigation.
caption: A coin that went down with the ship.
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