Shipwrecks, Coins, and Controversies

Join Peter van Alfen in this fascinating lecture exploring the development of search and excavation techniques that have led to the discovery of important wrecks and amazing finds and dive into the legal, archaeological, and ethical problems of bringing coins and other artifacts to the surface. Among the wrecks discussed will be the S.S. Central America, the famed “ship of gold,” launched by the U.S. Mail Steamship Co. founded by Staten Island entrepreneur George Law, which sank off the coast of the Carolinas in 1857 carrying nearly 10 tons of gold from California.

Peter van Alfen is Chief Curator at the American Numismatic Society, holds a PhD in Classical Philology from the University of Texas at Austin, an MA from Texas A&M University in nautical archaeology, and has participated in shipwreck excavations at Ulu Burun, Bozburun, and Tektas Burnu, Turkey, and a survey for shipwrecks in the Red Sea with the Institute of Nautical Archaeology (INA).

Free with pay-what-you-wish museum admission.

Image: J. Childs, the Sinking of the Central America,1857

Host or Publisher The Noble Maritime Collection