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Economy
In reply to the discussion: Weekend Economists Out on an Idle Idol Idyll November 15-17, 2013 [View all]xchrom
(108,903 posts)26. Gold Making People Crazy in Search for Sunken Treasure
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-14/gold-making-people-crazy-in-search-for-sunken-treasure.html
Gold pieces from shipwrecks are displayed at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West, Florida, on Aug. 2, 2013. Photographer: Vernon Silver/Bloomberg
Captain Robert Mayne stands at the wheel as he guides the steel-hulled Aqua Quest from the docks in the Florida Keys, pointing the vessel toward what hes been assured is a gold-laden shipwreck that may be worth tens of millions of dollars.
Mayne, 60, says experience has taught him such gold hunts can be perilous: inspiring obsession, sending treasure hunters on endless journeys and blinding them to reason.
Gold makes people crazy, says Mayne, who in his youth smuggled marijuana, and now has neatly combed, greying hair. They become lost in their dream.
Even he finds the pull irresistible. Investors who hold rights to the site southwest of Key West say it may be the resting place of a galleon sunk by a 1622 hurricane. Mayne has agreed to cover the cost of the excursion in exchange for half of any treasure.
Gold pieces from shipwrecks are displayed at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West, Florida, on Aug. 2, 2013. Photographer: Vernon Silver/Bloomberg
Captain Robert Mayne stands at the wheel as he guides the steel-hulled Aqua Quest from the docks in the Florida Keys, pointing the vessel toward what hes been assured is a gold-laden shipwreck that may be worth tens of millions of dollars.
Mayne, 60, says experience has taught him such gold hunts can be perilous: inspiring obsession, sending treasure hunters on endless journeys and blinding them to reason.
Gold makes people crazy, says Mayne, who in his youth smuggled marijuana, and now has neatly combed, greying hair. They become lost in their dream.
Even he finds the pull irresistible. Investors who hold rights to the site southwest of Key West say it may be the resting place of a galleon sunk by a 1622 hurricane. Mayne has agreed to cover the cost of the excursion in exchange for half of any treasure.
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