Satchel Also Holds Bank Notes, Coins : Fortune in Gems Retrieved From Titanic

PARIS —  Divers plucked a battered valise containing a fortune in gems, bank notes and coins from the Titanic today, 75 years after the luxury liner sank, a salvage official said.

The leather valise did not bear a name, said expedition leader Robert Chappaz. He released few details on the satchel’s contents.

No estimate has been made of what jewels off the wreck would be worth. But marine salvage experts have said that even a cup off the Titanic could be worth a fortune.

Chappaz said the valise was not in good condition. But its existence indicated that some organic objects remained decades after the ship sank on April 14-15, 1912.

In addition to finding the satchel, divers aboard the high-tech minisub Nautile retrieved a small safe believed to have been the assistant purser’s strongbox, Chappaz said in a statement.

The leather satchel, which was found during a routine survey of the stern section of the debris field, was opened and examined briefly, revealing the valuables and currency.

Chappaz repeated the expedition’s claim that none of the artifacts will be sold to private individuals. He did not say if the expedition would try to sell the objects to institutions, such as museums.

A full account of the satchel’s contents was to be made after the object was transferred to a preservation laboratory in Paris run by the national utility, Electricite de France, Chappaz said.

The French Institute for Research and Exploitation of the Sea, owner of the Nautile and support vessel Nadir, has said any artifacts would be displayed during a world tour.

No explanation has been given on how investors in the expedition will recoup the $2.5 million cost of the adventure. The investors are grouped as the British-registered Ocean Research and Exploration Ltd.

The Titanic, advertised as unsinkable, hit an iceberg and went down on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York on April 14, 1912.