
The plastic containers packed with the 500,000 coins, which to fetch an average of $1,000 each.
The coins might have come from the wreck of a 17th-century merchant ship found off southwestern England.
Other experts said the condition and value of the coins could vary so much that the price estimate was little more than an educated guess.
Keywords: shipwreck treasure, deep-sea explorers, colonial-era silver, gold coins, shipwreck, coins collectors, rare coin, merchant ship,gold, treasure, Professional Numismatists Guild, artifacts.