Coin dealers examining gold find off La. coast

"What we've found is varied, a little of everything," said Craig DeRouen, who is on a leave from his job as a mechanical engineer in the oil industry. "There are different denominations from different years, silver and gold."

DeRouen, along with fellow New Iberia residents Avery Munson and Gary and Renee Hebert, have ownership of the coins after obtaining title to the wreck from a federal court.

Mudd said that although the coins are worth much more today because of current gold prices around $900 an ounce, that's only part of their value.

"The collector value may be three, five, eight thousand dollars more, depending upon their condition," he said. "It depends upon the individual piece and its individual rarity."

John Albanese, a rare coin dealer in Far Hills, N.J., since 1978, appraised about 200 of the gold coins. "This is the most impressive Southern-minted gold I've seen in my lifetime," he said.

Mudd said $100,000 might be possible for an exceptional coin, and that $8,000 to $16,000 wouldn't be unusual for a coin in high-grade condition.

"Historically, they are interesting. These are the first coins produced by gold from the United States," he said. "The California gold rush didn't occur until about 1850."

Gold resists saltwater corrosion, and mud that had collected on the coins was removed with a chemical compound that does not affect the metal, Bowers said. The silver coins are etched by the seawater, giving them a "shipwreck effect" that is popular with collectors, he said.