Royal Mint to Sell Coins Made of Silver from Sunken Ship

Mineweb reported that the Royal Mint plans to offer a limited edition silver coin made from metal sourced from the SS Gairsoppa, a merchant ship that sunk in 1941 while transporting silver, pig iron and tea to the mint.

As quoted in the market news:

Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration finally located the ship 300 miles off the Irish coast at a depth of three miles in September 2011. Odyssey recovered 2,792 silver ingots, or more than 99% of the insured silver reported to be aboard the Gairsoppa when she sank.

The discovery of the £150 million in silver is believed to be the largest and deepest of any precious metal recovery from a wreck.

The recovered silver is being used to mint a limited edition of 20,000 one-quarter ounce silver coins, which will be available April 21. The Royal Mint began striking the coins on April 4.

Click here to read the full Mineweb report.