Shipwrecks of Nova Scotia

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Cape Breton Treasure Ship

In the early 18th Century,  Eastern Canada was under French control. When the British took control of the territory in 1760, many French settlers were forced to return to their homeland. The Auguste was a  French merchant ship used to transport passengers and cargo between France and Canada. On a trip to France in November of 1761, the Auguste was wrecked in Aspy Bay, near the northern tip of Cape Breton. Of the 121 people on board, only seven survived the incident. Several wealthy people were among Auguste's passengers, and the ship carried a large quantity of gold and silver coins and other valuables.

For the next 200 years, the Auguste wreck eluded treasure hunters, but in 1977, it was found in shallow water and was partially salvaged under government supervision. In 2000 a new group of salvors and investors, known as Auguste Expedition LLC, obtained a government permit to conduct further salvage of the wreck. Over the past few summers, they have been searching and excavating the wreck site and have recovered thousands of coins and historic artifacts. Eventually they plans to sell many of these objects to museums. The story of the hunt for the Auguste and its treasures was presented in a television special on the National Geographic Channel in 2004. For more information on the Auguste, see our Auguste data page.

The Auguste Expedition salvors haven't found vast quantities of treasure yet, but they plan to continue their operations over the next few years and hope to find a lot more. The pictures below provide a glimpse into the world of modern-day treasure hunters. They were provided by Capt. Joe Amaral of Auguste Expedition LLC.

Aspy Bay - site of the Auguste wreck	This wreck chart shows the location of the Auguste	An 18th Century wreck similar to the Auguste
A storm like this wrecked the ship in 1761	The salvage vessel Sister Ann leaving Dingwall Harbour	Sister Ann  on the wreck site
The salvage crew worked hard all summer	Diver Jeff gets suited up	Coming out of the water
A prop-wash diverter clears away the sand	One of several cannons on the site	Artifacts like this ornate sword guard are interesting finds
A fancy brass key	A Spanish-American 8-real silver coin or piece-of-8	A Spanish silver pillar coin
A French Louis gold coin	French Louis reverse	Assortment of Auguste artifacts
A badly-worn gold coin	Diver Chris with a stack of coins	The crew celebrates a big find

 

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