Could the Odyssey treasure come to Cartagena?

500 million dollars worth of treasure from Spanish wreck could complete it's own 200 year journey.

The Mayoress of Cartagena has said that treasure salvaged from the wreck of the Spanish ship, the Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, should be brought to Cartagena, and housed in the ARQUA National Subaquatic Archaeology Museum.
Spain has this week won a major battle in its fight with Odyssey, a Florida-based deep-sea salvage business who recovered an estimated 500 million dollar treasure of silver and gold coins from the Spanish vessel in 2007.
The treasure had been recovered from a depth of 1100 metres, and Odyssey claimed that they had not belonged to an identifiable wreck, but had been found scattered across the seabed.

Spain claim that the company deliberately set out to find the Mercedes, knowing her approximate location after she was sunk by British ships in 1804.

The vessel was laden with 17 tons of gold and silver coins, a vast treasure which was travelling to Spain from the Spanish colony of Peru, the money aboard her to pay for Spain´s wars in Europe.  She had crossed the Atlantic and was close to the Portugese coast when a  British squadron attacked her, close to Cape St Mary, Portugal.
During the ensuing battle the 34 gun frigate was sunk, shattering after an explosion in the powder magazine, all 250 men on board lost, together with her cargo of treasure.
Odyssey discovered the coins, 1100 metres down, using remote controlled deep sea robots, and soon afterwards became embroiled in a furious row as they attempted to smuggle the treasure to America without the knowledge of the Spanish authorities.
Odyssey took the haul to Gibraltar and airlifted it back to the US, and the Guardia civil , not knowing the coins had already left the country, forced the Odyssey salvage vessel into Algeciras to search it, before a diplomatic row erupted, the court appeal this week being the final hurdle to returning the gold to Spain.

 Odyssey, said in a statement, "Currently, no final order has been issued in the case and it would be premature to comment at this time."
There is still the chance that they could appeal to the US supreme court, but as only a small percentage of cases are accepted for appeal, the Spanish authorities are celebrating victory.

The coinage is expected to be distributed amongst a number of museums, and perhaps some of it may be returned to the American mainland for display as the coinage originally came from Peru, a Spanish colony at that point in history.
The Mayoress of Cartagena has said that in her opinion, " the Odyssey treasure should come to Cartagena, by logic, as the seat of the ARQUA National Subaquatic Archaeological Museum is here. We have the laboratories which the Ministry of culture has invested in, built specifically for the treatment and recovery of marine salvage items which belong to the Spanish government.  Many cities could receive part of the treasure when it is distributed, but the seat of the treasure should rightfully be here in Cartagena."

Marine archaeologists have long called for greater protection for Spanish wrecks, there being literally thousands of vessels lying beneath the waters along the Spanish coastline. In one interview it was said that " there is more gold sunk in the Gulf of Cadiz than in the Bank of Spain, " estimating that there are at least 850 hulls in the bay of Cádiz alone, many known to contain vast quantities of coinage. "We have more wrecked ships than any other country in then world , but do less than anyone else to recover their riches. "

This treasure , however, could at last be on its way home. Pending a last ditch appeal to stop the coinage leaving America, the treasure of the Mercedes could finally reach Spanish shores after an extended journey, a journey which has taken more than 2 centuries for the cargo to reach its original destination.