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TAMPA, Fla. — Peru’s government wants to know whether 17 tons of silver coins recovered from a shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean last year were made there, complicating the legal quest to determine who rightfully owns the multimillion-dollar treasure.
Peru filed a claim Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Tampa to determine where the coins originated. The $500 million loot was found on a sunken ship by Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration. Odyssey has been fighting the Spanish government for ownership of the ship and its contents.
Peruvian consumer-rights advocates contend the coins were made with Peruvian metals and minted in Lima. Peru’s claim states that it is entitled to any property that originated there and was produced by its people.
