Treasure hunter freed from jail after refusing to turn over shipwreck gold

Tommy Thompson spent more than a decade in prison after refusing to disclose the whereabouts of 500 missing gold coins.

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Tommy Thompson, 73, discovered millions of dollars' worth of sunken treasure from the 1857 wreck of the SS Central America, also known as the Ship of Gold, off the coast of South Carolina in 1988.

Investors in Thompson's venture accused him of cheating them out of promised proceeds and after years on the run he was jailed in 2015 on a criminal contempt charge.

When it sank in 1857, the ship had been carrying 30,000 pounds of gold newly minted in San Francisco.

The ship's treasure, which had been en route to the east coast to create a reserve for banks, sank 7,000 feet to the bottom of the ocean, taking with it 425 passengers and crew, and contributing to the financial panic of 1857.