The Royal Mint will be releasing special commemorative silver coins made from 2,800 bars of silver that were recovered by the American marine exploration company Odyssey Inc, off the coast of Ireland. The silver bars were on board the British merchant ship SS Gairsoppa and which was sunk by a German U-Boat in 1941. As part of the war effort, the silver was being transported from Calcutta, India to Liverpool when the ship was lost with its precious cargo. The wreck was first discovered in September 2011 at a depth of 3 miles on the ocean floor. The salvage effort was quite monumental in being able to recover 3.2 million troy ounces of silver from the this great depth.
Some of these silver bullion bars have been passed to The Royal Mint who will be producing 99.9% pure 1/4oz silver Britannia bullion coins. Each of the 20,000 solid silver coins will be edged with the name SS Gairsoppa and available to purchase in the UK by month end.