The Search for the Guggenheim Treasure

Loot valued at $20 million lies off the coast of Staten Island, and Ken Hayes is on the hunt for the sunken silver bullion

  • By Christopher Solomon
  • Smithsonian.com, March 05, 2010, Subscribe
 
New York City harbor
In 1903, a barge called the Harold tipped somewhere off the coast of New York City, sending most of its 7,700 silver-and-lead bars to the bottom. (Peter Barritt / Alamy)

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“So if we latch onto a 900-pound piece of metal, how do we detach from it?” someone asked. A discussion involving hacksaws ensued.

“Let’s fish,” Hayes said, seeming a little anxious for results.

Drilling commenced. The harpoon was winched up, but with no silver bar attached. Hayes groaned and lay back on the deck and pulled his ball cap over his eyes. Everyone broke for lunch.

Now another boat appeared. The crew recognized it. “When we were out in August they came out and circled our boat for hours. They said they were looking for the silver, too, and they asked us if we wanted to collaborate,” Hayes said. The boat now circled again, as if stalking, then anchored a few hundred yards away and would remain there all day, doing nothing. Occasionally the documentary film crew would film a man on the boat, and the man on the boat would film the film crew filming him.

After lunch, somebody said, “Hey! There’s someone on the shore.” And there was—on the Staten Island side, dressed in black and armed with binoculars. (An informant? A security guard?) But when everybody looked his way, the man in black ducked behind some bushes.

The promise of $20 million tends to foster this kind of vaguely menacing behavior. When Hayes first started looking for the silver, he said he got several phone calls from parties who felt he was horning in on a locals’ opportunity, and the calls urged him to abandon his hunt. Once while he was diving in Bonaire, off the South American coast, his cell phone rang.

“Maybe you’ve seen ‘The Sopranos,’” the caller said.

“No,” Hayes replied, “but I do like ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm.’”

The day lengthened. The probing continued in new spots, without success. “Well, we know where it’s not,” he said. “Ten square feet at a time, we’ll know where it’s not.”

The sun slumped low toward the old Asarco smelters. It was time to give up for today.

But Hayes and company were hardly relinquishing the quest. Over the winter they developed a sampling device that can plunge deep in the mayonnaise to collect a small flake of metal from suspected silver bars, “much the same way a surgeon would biopsy a tumor,” Hayes said.

Come spring, they’ll be out on the Arthur Kill, poking and prodding at targets again. If the tests say there’s silver down there, you can bet they’ll be back soon, ready to haul it up.


Among the old-timers casting for stripers along the Arthur Kill between Staten Island and New Jersey talk tends to return to a few well-thumbed topics. The most intriguing of these is the tale of the silver ingot that once snagged in the eel trident of the old Indian fisherman named Blood. From there, conversation invariably turns to the Lost Guggenheim Treasure.

On the still, moonlit night of September 26, 1903, a tug urged the barge Harold out of what’s today the South Street Seaport and south past the Statue of Liberty. The Harold’s load that night was nearly 7,700 silver-and-lead bars. They were destined for the glowing Asarco smelters of Perth Amboy, New Jersey. The silver, and the smelters, belonged to the Guggenheim family, which had made its fortune in mining and smelting.

The cargo never arrived, at least in one batch. Somewhere in the Arthur Kill tidal strait the Harold tipped, sending most of the silver bars to the bottom. The barge’s deckhands—“dumbest skunks I ever had to do with,” the salvage company’s owner later told the New York Times—didn’t notice until docking at dawn. A secret salvage effort recovered about 85 percent of the bars, but that still left up to 1,400 “pigs” unfound. Today they could be worth $20 million.

One morning last fall, Ken Hayes set out to find himself some sunken treasure—that is, if no one got to Hayes, or to the treasure, first. Hayes is president and founder of Aqua Survey, a Flemington, N.J., company that usually grabs sediment from the bottom of waterways for clients like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In recent years Aqua Survey also has gained a reputation for looking for less mundane things someone has lost underwater: Spanish doubloons off Key West. Fighter planes in the Bermuda Triangle. UFOs off Catalina Island.

The Guggenheim silver is Hayes’ personal obsession, however—which explains why Hayes was a little antsy to get started. It was eight o’clock in the morning at a boat launch at Sewaren on the Jersey side, less than two miles from the former Asarco smelters, and his three boats were stuck in traffic on Interstate 278. A documentary film crew burned the time taking B-roll of Hayes walking toward the water, looking pensive.

Finally the three boats arrived. The flotilla motored out toward Story’s Flats, a promising shallows where the channel bends like a quotation mark. It was a fine day to be on the water, even the Arthur Kill, which possesses a certain rusting Ozymandian grandeur: On the Jersey shore a beached ferry lay on its side, its bones bleaching in the October sun. Beside it the piers of the Hess tank farm were cushioned with a Detroit of used tires. A stained smokestack manufactured bright white clouds and sent them off over Fresh Kills Landfill.

As the boats positioned over their first target, Hayes, a jocular 57 year-old whose white beard, glasses and pebbled Clarkses give him the appearance of a college engineering professor, tried to temper expectations, including his own. Like any self-respecting treasure hunter Hayes had his own treasure map—created by sweeping the area with a souped-up metal detector whose software has been trained to ignore iron—but there was no guarantee that the map’s 255 dots were, well, treasure. “It could be aluminum cans, it could be specialty alloy rims from cars—you name it. Look, for years fishermen didn’t bring litter bags,” said Hayes, who with his employees has been surveying and investigating targets since 2006, spending several weeks annually on the quest.

A man motored up in a boat as white as a new tennis shoe.

“Is it silver or gold you’re looking for?” he called out.

“I’ll take either,” Hayes answered. The man said he was a retired marine patrolman from the 1980s, and he and Hayes swapped rumors. Before he left the retiree said, “You know, you better be careful, you might bring up Jimmy Hoffa.”

Once the boat was anchored in place, Hayes took what looked like an electrified pole-vault pole and began to prod through a window-sized hole in the deck. With this detector he prodded down through the water, down through a century’s worth of tidal muck and dioxins that the crew had nicknamed “black mayonnaise.” Meanwhile, inside the wheelhouse Mark Padover watched a laptop screen for a spike in the readings. This prodding continued for a long time. An observer noted that hunting for sunken treasure is not as swashbuckling in real life as when Johnny Depp does it at the Cineplex. Hayes handed off the pole to a crewmate and sat down on the deck. The black-mayo-prodding went on.

“Contact!”

“When you hit it, it jumps!” Padover called out from in front of the computer screen.

“Well, I guess we get Pete’s tool out and try to bring it up,” Hayes says. To haul 75-pound bars out from under 96 years' worth of muck, machinist Pete Davis had designed an 11-foot harpoon with a nasty-looking screw at one end and a big drill at the other. (Davis’ harpoon two years earlier, powered by a .38 Special, had proven dramatic if ineffectual.)

“So if we latch onto a 900-pound piece of metal, how do we detach from it?” someone asked. A discussion involving hacksaws ensued.

“Let’s fish,” Hayes said, seeming a little anxious for results.

Drilling commenced. The harpoon was winched up, but with no silver bar attached. Hayes groaned and lay back on the deck and pulled his ball cap over his eyes. Everyone broke for lunch.

Now another boat appeared. The crew recognized it. “When we were out in August they came out and circled our boat for hours. They said they were looking for the silver, too, and they asked us if we wanted to collaborate,” Hayes said. The boat now circled again, as if stalking, then anchored a few hundred yards away and would remain there all day, doing nothing. Occasionally the documentary film crew would film a man on the boat, and the man on the boat would film the film crew filming him.

After lunch, somebody said, “Hey! There’s someone on the shore.” And there was—on the Staten Island side, dressed in black and armed with binoculars. (An informant? A security guard?) But when everybody looked his way, the man in black ducked behind some bushes.

The promise of $20 million tends to foster this kind of vaguely menacing behavior. When Hayes first started looking for the silver, he said he got several phone calls from parties who felt he was horning in on a locals’ opportunity, and the calls urged him to abandon his hunt. Once while he was diving in Bonaire, off the South American coast, his cell phone rang.

“Maybe you’ve seen ‘The Sopranos,’” the caller said.

“No,” Hayes replied, “but I do like ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm.’”

The day lengthened. The probing continued in new spots, without success. “Well, we know where it’s not,” he said. “Ten square feet at a time, we’ll know where it’s not.”

The sun slumped low toward the old Asarco smelters. It was time to give up for today.

But Hayes and company were hardly relinquishing the quest. Over the winter they developed a sampling device that can plunge deep in the mayonnaise to collect a small flake of metal from suspected silver bars, “much the same way a surgeon would biopsy a tumor,” Hayes said.

Come spring, they’ll be out on the Arthur Kill, poking and prodding at targets again. If the tests say there’s silver down there, you can bet they’ll be back soon, ready to haul it up.


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i am a 42yrs old, healthy and strong! i live in n.y.c all my life looking for aventures but theres something speacial about treasure hunting in the rivers or ocean . so what a trying to say if need a worker , i am here to work hard.

Posted by carmelo montes on August 6,2011 | 12:01 PM

I've studied the silver bars of Story Flats since the mid-1990's. One of the problems that arises, did the Corp of Engineers have the Arthur Kill dredges during the past one hundred years. The answer is yes. It has been dredged at least twice during that time. There is a possibility that a company like Great Lakes Dredge, could have dredged up some or all of the silver/lead ingots during of those dredge operations.

Twice i planned on giving it a try to attempt salvage of the silver/lead ingots, but working got in the way. Commercial diver for more than 30 years. Had i tried, i would have utilized a diver with an underwater metal detector. When i would find something of interest, i would have utilized a jet pump to try to blast the bottom out to find object. A slow process, but i think it may have worked. I have since lost interest in this project. Hopefully, my thoughts will spur some younger diver to try their luck.

Posted by Jim Stormes on February 21,2011 | 05:00 PM

IN THE MID 1980'S I SEARCHED FOR THE CARGO WITH THE RENOWNED DOCTOR HAROLD EDGERTON PROFESSOR EMERITUS AT THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY WITH PERIOD MAPS FROM THE ARMY CORP OF ENGINEERS AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER AND HIS CUSTOM SUB BOTTOM SONAR WE SURVEYED THE SITE AND LOCATED THREE CONCLUSIVE GROUPED TARGETS OF INTEREST THERE WERE 3 OTHER SALVAGE GROUPS ALSO SEARCHING TILL THE COAST GUARD INTERVENED FOR SAFETY, AND ORDER .AT 26 FEDERAL PLAZA FEDERAL JUDGE SOFARE MADE SEVERAL RULINGS, THE HENNER GROUP WAS NOT ALLOWED TO CONTINUE THEIR SEARCH, BOB HOOPER WAS ALLOWED TO WORK HIS SITE AND THE ACDC GROUP COULD WORK NORTH OF HOOPERS SITE. THE JUDGE RULED NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO DO ANY DREDGING OF ANY FORM INCLUDING PROBING ONLY ELECTRONIC DATA RECORDINGS AND DIVING ARE ALLOWED. THAT THE ROYAL COULD NOT PUT A CLAIM TO THE CARGO TILL A BAR WAS FOUND A "TITLE CLAIM". BECAUSE OF THE TOXIC NATURE THE SEDIMENT THE VARYING DEPTH OF MUD AND SILT 6-20FT, WITH THE BARS RESTING BELOW THIS TOXIC MUD ON THE SANDY SUB BOTTOM AND SOME PUSHED INTO THE SAND BY THE ACTION OF THE ORANGE PEEL BUCKET DREDGE FROM THE ORIGINAL SALVAGE IN 1903 MAKES THIS TREASURE A FORMIDABLE ONE. I STILL HAVE A ACTIVE INTEREST IN THIS CARGO ASIDE FROM ALL OF THESE OBSTACLES AND WOULD WELCOME ANY NEW INPUT. I CAN BE REACHED AT josephklimcak@optonline.net

Posted by Joseph Klimcak on April 13,2010 | 12:49 PM

DEAR READERS LET ME SET YOU STRAIGHT ON THE SILVER BARS OF STORY FLATS. FIRST... THE ROYAL INSURANCE COMPANY HAS PETITIONED THE FEDERAL COURTS IN THE LATE 1980'S THAT THEY HAVE NOT ABANDONED THEIR FULL CLAIM TO THE LOST CARGO OF 100 POUND SILVER BARS AFTER UNDERWRITING AND PAYING THE LOSS TO THE GUGGENHEIM'S. THE LAWYERS OF ROYAL STATED THEIR POSITION IN THE FEDERAL COURT CASE HENNER vs .UNITED STATES COAST GUARD JUDGE SOFARE PRESIDING. SECOND...THE BARS WEIGH 100 POUNDS EACH THEY ARE A ALLOY OF 75% SILVER AND 25% LEAD WITH TRACE ELEMENTS, IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT THEY WERE CAST POURED INTO SAND CASTS FROM A WOODEN MASTER MOLD. THESE PIGS WERE QUICKLY PRODUCED, THE SPECULATION IS THAT THE GUGGENHEIM MINING OPERATION IN MEXICO WAS WORRIED THAT José Doroteo Arango Arámbula (5 June 1878 – 20 July 1923), better known by his pseudonym Francisco Villa or its hypocorism "Pancho Villa" WAS GOING TO OVERTHROW THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT AND NATIONALIZE THE GUGGENHEIM MINES IN MEXICO AND BECAUSE THE REFINERY AT THE MINES WAS A SMALL OPERATION ONLY A FEW 100 POUNDS OF PURE SILVER A DAY COULD BE REFINED THEY DECIDED TO SHIP THE ALLOY 75/25 TO THE AMERICAN SMELTING AND REFINERY CORPORATION (ASARCO)IN SEWAREN NEW JERSEY. THERE WERE 7,678 BARS WEIGHING 100 POUNDS EACH THAT IS 767,800 POUNDS. THEY ARRIVED BY STEAMSHIP OFF LOADED ONTO THE BARGE THE HAROLD ON ITS WAY TO ASARCO OFF SEWAREN ON THE MUD FLAT KNOW AS STORY'S FLAT THE HAROLD TOPPLED OVER, DUMPED ITS CARGO AND RIGHTED ITSELF. RELIEVED OF THAT BURDEN WITH 200 BARS REMAINING TRAPPED ALONGSIDE HER GUNWALE SHE ARRIVED AT THE DOCKS OF ASARCO TO THE SURPRISE OF EVERYONE NEARLY EMPTY.

Posted by Joseph Klimcak on April 13,2010 | 12:47 PM

Silver, gold and other precious metals are weighed in troy ounces. There are 12 troy ounces to a troy pound. The other weight is by avoirdupois, commonly used in groceries, of which there are 16 ounces to the avp pound. However it would be better to calculate the weight in grams, then we would know exactly the worth of each bar.

Posted by Sam on March 27,2010 | 10:52 PM

i think if any does ever find the it belongs to there family

Posted by bill on March 19,2010 | 12:30 PM

Better go for gold than silver...! I have a project with 100 kgs of ingots to recover in less than 100 meters of water in the Atlantic... Still looking for financial partners.

More stories to read aat http://www.oceantreasures.org

Posted by Pascal on March 16,2010 | 12:32 AM

I can't believe some of the stupid comments on here. If the guggenheims wanted the loot, they have all the money and resources available to go find it, which means:
1. they don't think its there (they know something hayes doesn't)
2. They already did look for it and couldn't find it
3. They looked for it, found it, and didn't say anything
OR
4. We assume that since its been there for over 100 years, and the guggenheim family has been filthy rich for just as long, that whoever finds it, deserves to keep it (minus whatever uncle sam takes to line his own thieving pockets with).

To all the people who think that NY should get the money, or the guggenheims, or whoever else besides aqua-survey, you are idiots. Its been there for a full century. You had your chance to find it. You didn't take it. Someone else did. And that's why they will be raking in the cold hard cash later and not you.

The whole world wants something for nothing......

Posted by Daniel Kelly on March 15,2010 | 02:38 AM

To bad it doesn't sit at the bottom of the Kill Van Kul,The Raritan Bay Nor has it ever.

Local S.I'er

Posted by Mike on March 15,2010 | 01:37 AM

I think the guy who called the crew idiots took it.

Posted by Rick L on March 15,2010 | 01:28 AM

I want to know how in the heck a barge tilts so much it loses ALL of its cargo without sinking and no deckhands even notice. This whole thing sounds like theft or fraud to me. The Guggenheims probably just claimed to recover 85% of it (secretly)after they pocketed the insurance money.
When in fact they doubled their money thru insurance fraud.

Posted by Todd on March 15,2010 | 01:23 AM

Geraldo Rivera will find it.

Posted by Mike on March 15,2010 | 01:22 AM

This is for all those who are trying to run calculations regarding the value of the pigs reported to weigh 75 pounds, and who don't understand the smelting business.

1. There were NOT Silver bars, and seperate Lead bars.
2. The Silver and the Lead were mixed together in the bars, thus being an "ALLOY" of the two metals.
3. The bars were/are "raw" Silver/Lead from an inefficient first stage smelting operation in Mexico.
4. They have to be "refined" to seperate the Silver and Lead, with each finished product sold at its value.
5. That's where the New Jersey smelting operation, where the bars were beint shipped, comes into the picture.
6. There was no mention in the article about the percentage of each of the metals in the pigs, so...
7. Without that info it's impossible to calculate the value of the bars, or each of its components, Silver and Lead.
8. In the raw form, no one can sell either the Silver or Lead, AND if recovered, the bars will have to be REFINED at a smelter to get any real value from the Silver.

Posted by johnny on March 15,2010 | 01:09 AM

Poor dudue is wasting his time....I already found the bars back in 1982..... Silver was only worth $7 an ounce....so I dropped it back in the water....only downriver about a mile an a half or so..... I can show you where for a fee.....

Posted by drew on March 15,2010 | 01:08 AM



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