Biggest ever treasure haul 'found off Scilly'

Gold and silver coins worth an estimated ?253 million are thought to have been found off Scilly.

US salvage company Odyssey Marine Exploration said it believed the 17 tonnes of coins have an estimated value of ?506 each.

It is thought the coins may have come from the English ship Merchant Royal, known as the ‘Eldorado of the seas’, which sank off the Islands in 1641 laden with bullion from Mexico.

‘For this colonial era, I think (the find) is unprecedented,? said coin expert Nick Bruyer. ‘I don’t know of anything equal or comparable to it.?

The firm has flown the 500,000 coins back to its base in Florida to be examined.

It has not disclosed the site of the wreck, codenamed the Black Swan, for legal and security reasons.

But experts believe a statement given to a US court in the autumn suggests it was the Merchant Royal.

A US court has granted Odyssey ownership of the contents of the ship, which is lying 100m (328ft) under the water.

The haul is by far the biggest in the firm’s 13-year history and it is likely to return to the site for more artefacts.

Chief executive John Morris said he believed the find will have ?immense historical significance? and could become one of the most publicised in history.