This Issue:

Table of Contents

Cover Story

Cover Story - Spanish Version

Mini-Lesson

Comprehension Quiz

Teacher's Guide and Worksheets

A Golden Discovery

--By Elizabeth Winchester

After 12 years of searching for buried treasure, sea explorers finally struck gold on November 6. The team of marine archaeologists found 80 loose gold coins. They also spotted at least two wooden crates that may prove to be packed with hundreds of coins.

The team from Odyssey Marine Exploration, a company that investigates shipwrecks, discovered the gold along with the remains of the S.S. Republic. The shipwreck lies deep below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, about 100 miles off the border of Florida and Georgia.

In 1865, the steamship left New York City for New Orleans, Louisiana. According to old newspaper reports, the ship carried 59 to 81 passengers. It held at least 20,000 gold coins. It is likely that bankers and other business people in the North had shipped the coins to New Orleans to help the southern city rebuild after the Civil War.

When a violent hurricane struck, the Republic sank. Most of the passengers survived. The gold coins went down with the ship.

"It could be a very valuable find," says Laura Lionetti Barton, who is a spokesperson for Odyssey. Valuable, indeed! Experts say the coins could be worth more than $120 million.

Odyssey's team is still searching for more coins and artifacts from the ship. Barton expects almost all of the treasures to become the property of Odyssey. The company plans to sell most of them. The others, says Barton, will be exhibited in museums. Then the public will learn the story behind what was lost, and found, at sea.

Next: Dear TFK...