The $17 billion San José treasure: who does the ‘world’s richest shipwreck’ belong to?

At 2,000 feet below the Caribbean Sea, off Colombia’s coast, lie scattered fragments of a colonial-era time capsule – the San José Galleon. Sunk in 1708 during a British ambush, it carried gold coins, silver bars, and precious goods now valued at $17 billion. For years, the “holy grail of shipwrecks” remained untouched, cloaked in legal and political disputes. Now, a new archaeological study is quietly redefining what we know about it and, possibly, who can claim it.

Published in Antiquity (Cambridge University Press, June 10, 2025), the research confirms the wreck as the San José throughcareful numismatic and archaeological analysis. Using high-resolution images captured by remotely operated vehicles, researchers identified clusters of 8-escudos coins minted in Lima in 1707, just a year before the ship sank.

Each coin’s markings, from the “P.V.A.” motto (Plus Ultra) to the assayer’s stamp “H”, aligns with the galleon’s final voyage from Peru to Spain via Panama.

That’s where things get tricky.

Who owns the San José galleon treasure?

Spain claims sovereign immunity, arguing it was a state vessel. Colombia claims maritime territorial rights. Meanwhile, Indigenous groups and the U.S. salvage firm Sea Search Armada (which first flagged the location) argue for partial rights or compensation. With this new academic certainty about the cargo’s origin and date, the battle over its legal status may intensify.

No treasure is being raised just yet. Colombia is proceeding cautiously, limiting itself to non-invasive mapping and modeling... for now. But the questions raised by the gold coins are becoming louder than the ocean above them: who does this ship, and its staggering wealth, really belong to? Plenty of interested parties want a share, and no wonder.

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