Finding $100,000 Worth of Gold Coins | Expedition Unknown

[MUSIC PLAYING] The year is 1838.

[00:04]The age of the steam engine is in full roar. Ocean journeys that once lasted weeks now take mere days, a luxury available to anyone who can afford the steep fare.

[00:17]On the night of June 14, the SS Pulaski, a brand new, state-of-the-art sidewheel steamer, set sail out of Savannah, Georgia.

[00:26]She is loaded with the city’s wealthiest citizens and some of their most valuable belongings, headed north for a summer in cooler climates.

[00:36]As she passes about 30 miles off the coast of North Carolina, the Pulaski suddenly suffers a catastrophic explosion, blasting her side wheels clear off their axle and turning the entire midsection of the ship into splinters.

[00:52]Those passengers who don’t die instantly watch the ship crack in half and sink.

[00:58]Nearly 130 lives are lost. It’s been called the Titanic of the South. And for almost two centuries, the shipwreck’s location has remained a maritime mystery– that is until a group of salvage experts recently discovered what they believe to be the Pulaski’s boiler.

[01:16]Now, using top-of-the-line technology, they’re launching a new mission to find the rest of the ship.

[01:23]But there’s another prize. It’s believed the ship was carrying more than $20 million worth of rare coins.

[01:31]So to help the team find the Pulaski and her cargo, I’ll be facing deep water, rough conditions, and turbulent history.

[01:40]So get ready, because adventure lies full steam ahead. How’s it going, guys?

[01:48]I’m happy you’re here. JOSH GATES (VOICEOVER): I’m 40 miles off the coast of North Carolina, searching for the remains of the Pulaski, a steamship that sank here in 1838.

[01:59][MUSIC PLAYING] – Great to see you again, Josh. – Good to see you again.

[02:04]How you doing, Rodney? – Hey, Josh. How you doing, man? – How’s it going out here? Good. It’s going great. Turn your pockets out. What do you got in there? I dumped it before you got here. Of course you did. Remember that really nice sonar hit we had?

[02:13]Hell yeah. That’s where we are. You haven’t been down there yet? No. Whatever that is is big.

[02:17]Yeah. JOSH GATES (VOICEOVER): When the Pulaski’s boilers blew, the ship broke apart and scattered, creating a three-mile debris field. There she goes.

[02:26]JOSH GATES: OK, in the water. JOSH GATES (VOICEOVER): Using side-scan sonar, we were able to pinpoint two promising sites. Oh, oh, whoa, look at this, more coming.

[02:33]And it keeps going! Look at this! JOSH GATES (VOICEOVER): This second target is large enough to be a significant portion of the wreck which has never been found.

[02:42][MUSIC PLAYING] All right, cool. Let’s do it. Let’s get wet, guys.

[02:45]Come on. [MUSIC PLAYING] Read you loud and clear.

[03:14]Roger that.

[03:16]JOSH GATES (VOICEOVER): We’re either a hundred feet from history or an ocean full of nothing. [MUSIC PLAYING] We continue the descent, straining to see the bottom and hoping for any sign of wreckage.

[03:30][MUSIC PLAYING] Josh, how’s it look down there?

[03:45][MUSIC PLAYING] Is it part of the wreck?

[04:03]JOSH GATES (VOICEOVER): As I close in on our target, it becomes clear that the object is man-made and that it’s absolutely enormous.

[04:18]Can you make out anything specific?

[04:29]That means we’re probably in a center section. JOSH GATES (VOICEOVER): This is a huge discovery.

[04:35]Prior to these scans, the exploded boiler was the only documented part of the wreck. Now we know there’s more here, much more. This may be the entire engine area and sections aft.

[04:47]We circle the hulking remains of rusted machinery that hasn’t been seen since the 1800s.

[04:57]Let’s get as much on film as possible, so we can review it. JOSH GATES (VOICEOVER): Swimming past the towering hunks of twisted metal, I’m awestruck by the scale.

[05:15]This wreck is a crucial piece of nautical history.

[05:19]Spanning 200 feet, the Pulaski was the most high-tech and luxurious vessel of its day, a marvel from the Steam Age. Bring home some goodies, Josh.

[05:32]Outstanding.

[05:33]JOSH GATES (VOICEOVER): With limited bottom time and a storm brewing topside, we drop to the sand and begin to metal detect. Immediately, we start to get hits. And the Pulaski’s treasures can’t hide for long.

[05:55][MUSIC PLAYING] Topside here.

[06:14]Is it nice and shiny?

[06:18]Yes! Yes! JOSH GATES (VOICEOVER): The gold coin is a US piece from 1836. Face value– $5.

[06:28]Value today– depending on the condition, tens of thousands of dollars.

[06:32][MUSIC PLAYING] We scour the area searching for more. [MUSIC PLAYING] The salvage team manages to one-up the Crown Royal bag from our last dive with another special Numismatic containment device, a sack with a dollar sign on it.

[07:13][MUSIC PLAYING] The excitement is nearly enough to make me forget that I can’t stay down here forever.

[07:26][MUSIC PLAYING] We kick our fins toward the light and pull back from the extraordinary wreckage and treasures of the SS Pulaski.

[07:36][MUSIC PLAYING] Our discovery of the Pulaski’s keel section and the paddle wheel area is historic and will help reveal more lost details about her sinking.

[07:55][MUSIC PLAYING] Topside, our coins are cataloged and added to the haul.

[08:02]These two gold coins, plus the materials I brought to the lab at NGC, tally nearly $100,000. In the days that follow, 33 more gold coins are discovered and nearly a hundred silver coins.

[08:17]To date, the team has uncovered more than 700 coins, as well as haunting historic artifacts from the night of the explosion.

[08:24][MUSIC PLAYING] As I journey home, I make one last stop, a quiet churchyard on South Carolina’s Edisto Island.

[08:36]Here, a weathered obelisk stands in memory of parishioners who died aboard the Pulaski.

[08:41][MUSIC PLAYING] Among them, a 15-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy. It is the only real memorial to a nearly forgotten disaster that took the lives of so many.

[08:55][MUSIC PLAYING]