Spain puts HK$3b of shipwreck silver on display after battle in US courts
HK$3.7b trove goes on show after long battle with treasure hunters in US courts
Spain has proudly put on show tens of thousands of silver coins from a 19th-century shipwreck that it won back in court from US treasure hunters.
The country's soon-to-be king, Felipe, and future queen Letizia launched the exhibition in Madrid celebrating the return of the sunken treasure to Spain.
They viewed treasures and documents that tell the story of how British warships blew up the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes in 1804, sending its precious cargo to the bottom of the sea.
The highlight of the show, in the basement of Madrid's recently reopened National Archaeological Museum, is a glass case containing heaps of more than 30,000 tarnished silver coins.
The cargo came to Spain in 2012 after a five-year legal battle with Odyssey, the US company that hauled it up two centuries after it sank.
"It's emotional," said James Goold, a US lawyer who fought Spain's case in the courts. "To get it back to Spain says to me: Mission accomplished."