EL CONSTANTE RECOVERY
The First Modern Salvage Efforts
on the El Nuevo Constante
Sunk 1766 Off the Coast of Louisiana
By David C. Simmons
In the winter of 1979, a Texas shrimper returned to Port Bolivar with more than shrimp. While trawling off the coast of Louisiana, he had snagged some large pieces of copper in his net and was very curious about their origin. I was working in Galveston at the time, and in my spare time a friend of mine and I were building a boat in Bolivar. We were both known by the locals as SCUBA divers and knowledgeable about shipwrecks. When the shrimper made port and showed his pieces of copper, my friend and I were asked to look at them and give our opinion as to what they were. We both knew immediately that they were copper ingots from a Spanish ship headed back to Spain. After some planning, the shrimper scheduled a voyage back to the wreck site. A “gentleman’s agreement” was formed between the shrimper, two shrimper brothers who were going to use their vessel on the next trip, and my partner and I to do the diving on the wreck. Each of the three groups was to receive one third of any treasure recovered. All five of us, plus some other crew, put to sea shortly thereafter.
Once we got in the vicinity of where the shrimper found the copper ingots, it didn’t take him long to locate the wreck. It was in 18 feet of water and the time was about midnight. We were all anxious to check out the wreck so my partner and I put on our dive gear and went overboard. With no visibility, I ran my hands over the ballast pile and brought up some of the round river rocks and some wood. On deck we noticed that the wood was charred from being burnt. Upon daybreak we started diving in earnest, and I found that the visibility was not better in daylight that at night. On that voyage, which lasted only a couple of days, we brought up 33 copper ingots and a cannon.
We were now certain it was a Spanish shipwreck and we all agreed on another trip to the site for late December 1979. In the meantime, we contacted a friend in the Florida Keys well known for his Spanish shipwreck research and from the information we gave him he identified the wreck as the El Nuevo Constante, sunk in 1766. He also informed us that the Spanish had salvaged the wreck after burning the superstructure to the waterline. This accounted for the charred pieces of wood I recovered.
A more concerted effort was planned for the next trip and this time we towed along a dredge barge used for making channels. Once on site, we put the dredge to work, but it kept getting clogged up with ballast rocks. We had brought along another diver so the three of us went to work. Due to the cold weather we dove in short shifts, and between shifts we warmed up in the engine room. Even with quarter inch wet suits, we could only stay down for about a half hour each. Metal detectors were of little use because of all the iron and copper in the ballast pile, so with no visibility everything was done by touch. We focused on recovering all of the copper ingots and while doing this found three gold discs and two silver discs, plus some ceramic pieces, including a miniature guitar and shoe.
Returning to Port Bolivar, we were elated with our finds and were all anxious to go back for clean sweep. At this time gold was selling for over $800 an ounce and we had about 15 pounds of the stuff. Through some contacts we found a laboratory north of Dallas that were buying gold and silver, no questions asked. We made arrangements and took the three gold ingots, the two silver ingots, and one copper ingot to this location. Each piece was assayed and we were offered over $30,000 cash for the lot. They would have been melted down and their historic significance lost, so I voted not for the deal. This held and we returned to Bolivar with all of the treasure.
While preparing for the clean sweep, we learned that the original shrimper made arrangements with a Louisiana firm to dredge the site. My friend and I brought in a money man to contest the shrimpers actions and our backer hired a prestigious law firm in New Orleans to represent us in getting our share of remaining treasure recovered. The two shrimper brothers, my partner and I, and the investor agreed on one third each of any further treasure received by the group, after expenses. Next, of course, the State of Louisiana got involved and I only had a paper (and more paper) relationship with the salvage after that. The State was informed about our prior treasure recovery and as part of our legal agreement, we were requested to deliver the treasure already recovered to the Governor’s mansion in Baton Rouge. So we leased a large moving van and loaded it with over 100 copper ingots,` 3 gold ingots, 2 silver ingots, and other artifacts. We were met by two Texas troopers in Bolivar, who escorted us to the Louisiana border. At a designated rest stop, we were met by Louisiana troopers and one boarded me and the moving van while the rest escorted us to Baton Rouge. The trooper told me later that he was mighty hot wearing a bullet-proof vest in the unairconditioned moving van. I told him that I was half seasick rocking and rolling with tons of copper on board the van. We both laughed at the irony..
Once arriving at the Governor’s mansion we walked up to the front door and knocked, wondering who would open the door. We knocked again, and finally someone came from somewhere and said come around to the back door. All of the treasure was unloaded and we insisted on a receipt. The next day all the treasure was at the State’s crime lab in Baton Rouge and officially documented. We were given VIP treatment and a detective showed us around the facility, including their impressive collection of crime artifacts. I wonder if the archeologists ever noticed the small drill holes in the three gold ingots and two silver ingots we turned in? Now they know that the holes are from the assayers sample taken when we were considering selling them. In the end, I received some copper ingots as my share of the division of the treasure.
For historic details about the sinking of the El Nueve Constante and its archaeological research, you can request a copy of Anthropological Study Series No. 4 El Nuevo Constante, by Charles E. Pearson and Paul E. Hoffman by writing to the Division of Archaeology, P.O. Box 44247, Baton Rouge, LA 70804
STATE CRIME LAB BATON ROUGE:
The treasure we turned in to the State of
Louisiana is being inventoried. On the
table are the two silver discs and one
of the gold discs we recovered.
CANNON RECOVERY From left to right:
William, one of the shrimper brothers;
Dave Simmons; and my partner, Bob with the Cannon we recovered from the El Nuevo Constante.
Author of “The First Modern Salvage Efforts on the El Nuevo Constante”, Retired Marine Biologist and Treasure Diver, Dave Simmons.
Read About the Author
Treasure Hunter Dave Simmon’s……
In the late 1960’s, I started treasure hunting with an army surplus mine detector from World War II, well before models were developed for the general public. Then during the 1970’s while working as a marine biologist at the Fisheries Lab in Galveston, Texas, that’s when I got involved with the mutual salvage efforts on the El Nuevo Constante. Fascinated with Kip
Dave Simmons with the world’s greatest
treasure hunter, Mel Fisher on June 20, 1992 for Dave’s bachelor party.
