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One other notable passenger was James Nisbet, editor of the San Francisco Evening Bulletin. While other passengers and crew scranbled to save themselves, James Nisbet sat down in the ship's lounge and began to calmly write out his last will and testament. When his body was discovered a few days later, the will was discovered inside a breast pocket wrapped in oil cloth.

The Treasure

On October 1, 1993, a company founded by Don Knight called Deep Sea Research located the wreck of the SS Brother Jonathan using a small mini-submarine. But it would not be until August 30, 1996 that divers would find the first gold coins. 564 gold $20 double eagles were recovered that first day. In all, a total of 1,207 coins were recovered in 1996 and 1997. Nearly all the coins were struck at the San Francisco mint.

Many of the coins were discovered still wrapped in oil paper, twenty-five coins in a stack. Other coins found not wrapped were surrounded by large marine encrustations. The oil-paper wrapping and marine encrustations protected the coins and is probably the main reason so many coins were recovered in mint state condition.

In 2000, Dwight Manley and Bob Evans (both of SS Central America fame) went back to the site and recovered 58 more coins that were scattered individually about the site; 38 were double eagles eventually graded by NGC.

The Fight for the Treasure

Finding treasure is supposed to be a happy occasion with everyone getting rich. But in reality, it usually winds up with a lot of claimants clamoring for a piece of the pie. In the case of the SS Brother Jonathan, the salvors, descendants of passengers, shippers, and the State of California all got greedy and began legal battles to claim a share of the treasure. Ironically, the man who started the entire venture, Don Knight, was to get into a fight with others from Deep Sea Research and he eventually left the venture before any gold was recovered.

In 1999, the State of California finally settled for 200 of the $20 gold double eagles estimated at $5,000 per coin or $1 million dollars. Under the settlement, California agreed not to sell the coins on the open market for at least 15 years. The earliest we will see any of these coins is in 2014. With the current state of California's finances, its probably safe to say that California will probably sell the coins as soon as they can.

The Auctions

The first public offering of SS Brother Jonathan coins occurred on May 29, 1999. A Bowers and Merena auction offered 842 lots of gold coins to collectors. Bowers and Merena estimated the auction would bring between six and eight million dollars. In the end, the sale actually brought in only $6.3 million.

While not a total bust, it certainly had to be a disappointment to the Deep Sea Research folks. After Bowers and Merena took their share, Deep Sea Research wound up with only about $4.6 million. When the all the costs and legal expenses were added up, the members of Deep Sea Research wound up with very small return on their money. Unlike the SS Central America treasure, the SS Brother Jonathan did not bring vast wealth to its finders.

Sources

Bowers and Merena (Firm). The S.S. Brother Jonathan Treasure Coins: auction sale May 29, 1999 at Los Angeles, California. Wolfeboro, NH: Bowers and Merena, 1999.

Bowers, Q. David. A Guide Book of Double Eagle Gold Coins: A Complete History and Price Guide. Atlanta: Whitman Publishing LLC, 2004.

Bowers, Q. David. The Treasure Ship S. S. Brother Jonathan: Her Life and Loss, 1850-1865. Wolfeboro, NH: Bowers and Merena, 1999.

Farragut, Loyall. David Glasgow Farragut: First Admiral of the United States Navy Embodying his Journal and Letters. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1879.

Powers, Dennis M. Treasure Ship: The Legend and Legacy of the S.S. Brother Jonathan. New York: Citadel Press, 2006.

Rogers, Thos. H. "Captain Tugg and the Wreck of the Brother Jonathan." The Overland Monthly: An Illustrated Magazine of the West Vol. XXXVI, 2nd series (July---December, 1900).