March 14, 2026
Gold, guts, and a decade-long silent treatment
Treasure hunter freed from jail after refusing to turn over shipwreck gold
10 years in jail, 500 coins missing — did he just outwait the law
TLDR: Treasure hunter Tommy Thompson was released after nearly a decade in jail for refusing to reveal the location of 500 missing coins from the 1857 “Ship of Gold.” Commenters clash over whether he outwaited the court or owes investors, with jokes about Florida hideouts and “finders vs. keepers.”
Internet sleuths and armchair pirates are feasting on this saga: 73-year-old Tommy Thompson, the deep‑sea diver who found the 1857 “Ship of Gold” in 1988, is out after nearly a decade behind bars for refusing to say where about 500 gold coins went. He once raised $12.7 million from 161 investors, recovered bars and coins later sold for about $50 million, then vanished before reappearing in a Florida hotel under a fake name. Held in civil contempt since 2015 for clamming up, a judge ended it last year, saying he’d never talk. Now he’s free — the coins aren’t.
The comments? Absolutely molten. The top vibe: “Did he just win by shut‑up?” One user summed it up as a loophole speedrun: “So just need to wait them out eh.” Others pushed back hard: investors deserve answers, and “you can’t ‘finders‑keepers’ your way out of contracts.” There’s side‑eye at the Florida hideout — “stayed in Florida instead of absconding” — and legal gawkers asking, “Is there any obligation to turn over treasure you find yourself?” Linkers pulled in previous threads and more context. Meme-wise, it’s pirate code vs. bank code: jokes about a “Belize trust” becoming the new “X is in my other pants,” plus “Florida Man: Nautical Edition.” The real treasure isn’t the gold — it’s the comment brawl.
Key Points
- •Tommy Thompson was released after about a decade in prison, with roughly 500 gold coins still unaccounted for.
- •Thompson discovered treasure from the 1857 SS Central America wreck off South Carolina in 1988; 161 investors had provided $12.7 million for the expedition.
- •Much of the recovered gold was sold in 2000 for about $50 million, but investors sued in 2005 claiming they received no proceeds.
- •Thompson fled in 2012 and was arrested in 2015 in Boca Raton, Florida; he was held in contempt in December 2015 for refusing to disclose the coins’ location.
- •A judge ended Thompson’s civil contempt sentence last year, concluding he was unlikely to comply, according to CBS News.