SS Central America "The Ship of Gold"
William Hitchcock 1928-2006 is considered one of the foremost builders of museum quality models in the United States.  This exceptional work certainly helps maintain his reputation.  The encased model depicts the so called “Ship of Gold” as she is sinking 200 miles off the Carolina coast carrying twenty-one tons of California Gold Rush Gold and 400 souls to their death.  You will be fascinated by the details Hitchcock put in this scene: the seas are roiling, the flag is upside down as a sign of distress, crewmen are on the deck, and a lifeboat is floating away capsized and useless.

The story of the “SS Central America” is told in the book Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea by Gary Kinder.  She was a side-wheel steamer carrying around 600 passengers and crew from Havana up the eastern seaboard when she ran into a category two hurricane.  Her loss was one of the greatest peacetime tragedies at sea and partially caused the economic Panic of 1857.

In the 1980’s a young scientist Tommy Thompson led a team to map, find and develop recovery technology to retrieve the treasure of the lost ship.  His team successfully recovered not only $100-150 million in gold but antique clothing, documents and even an intact cigar by 1989.  Of course legal and insurance battles were waged, but in 1996 92% of the gold was awarded to the discovery team.