The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday declined to hear an emergency application for a stay filed by a Florida deep-sea salvage company that wanted to maintain possession of a half billion dollars worth of gold and silver coins until a final decision is made about who owns them. "Spain has now been victorious at every level in the United States courts, from Tampa to Atlanta to Washington," said Jim Goold, who defended Spain's claim to the treasure. "I am pleased and proud for all of us." Odyssey Marine Exploration had made an emergency appeal to the high court in an attempt to block a lower court's order last week that it turn over the treasure to Spain.
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Odyssey's bid to hold on to gold and silver coins was set back
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Justice Clarence Thomas declined the motion without comment
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Spain has won U.S. court rulings to date
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@placeholder filed suit in a federal court in Tampa, Florida, also claiming the treasure.
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Spain filed suit in a federal court in Tampa, @placeholder, also claiming the treasure.
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In 2009, the federal court in Tampa ruled in favor of @placeholder and the federal appeals court in Atlanta upheld the ruling last September.
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The appeals court is expected to send the case back to the court in @placeholder, which would establish and supervise the procedures for sending the coins to Spain, Goold said last week.
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Spain believes that most of the nearly 600,000 coins are currently in @placeholder, Goold said.