SS Republic Conservation, Full Steam Ahead

In December, NCS and NGC were awarded an exclusive contract to perform the conservation, grading and encapsulation of the coins recovered from the SS Republic shipwreck by Odyssey Marine Exploration of Tampa, Florida.

	Dave Camire, NCS Vice President and conservator, in the NCS specialized conservation facility.

Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. a leader in the field of deep ocean shipwreck exploration has been excavating a wide variety of material from the ship, which sank in 1865 with a large cargo of coins. According to officials at Odyssey Marine, more than 17,000 coins and over 750 other artifacts have been recovered so far, which represents a little more than 10% of the number of coins believed to have been on the ship when it sank.

The recovery of the tens of thousands of gold and silver United States coin, could very well amount to what experts are calling the most valuable coin collection to ever come to market.

The SS Republic was a side-wheel steamship that foundered in a hurricane while enroute from New York to New Orleans in 1865. Historical records indicate she was carrying $400,000 in gold specie when she sank off the coast of Georgia to a depth of 1,700 feet.

	"It’s a wrap!" JWM Productions in association with National Geographic conclude filming at NCS headquarters.

From the beginning of the project, National Geographic Television and Film has been documenting the effort preparing footage to be used for a special broadcast of Dateline NBC and "National Geographic Ultimate Explorer," which is broadcast on MSNBC.

The Dateline NBC special is scheduled to air on Sunday, April 25th from 7-8 p.m. ET. The National Geographic Ultimate Explorer presentation will also air on Sunday, April 25th from 8-9 p.m. ET on MSNBC. The Ultimate Explorer show featuring the Republic will also air on May 1st. For up-to-date information about the SS Republic ship wreck and media appearances, visit Odyssey's Web site at www.shipwreck.net.