There is not a single child who fails to be intrigued by stories of sunken treasure, missing ships and dreams of finding barrels and barrels of gold coins ? and many adults in Bermuda also share this fascination with treasures of the deep.

Bermudian adventurer Dr. David Saul is no exception. When he joined the Odyssey Marine Exploration team in 2000, he also had dreams of finding sunken treasure, but never in his wildest dreams did he think the group actually would.

And not just any ?missing treasure? either ? the with a bounty of some $180 million in gold coins.

This historic paddlewheel steamship went to the bottom of the Atlantic in a hurricane in October 1865 en route to New Orleans with a cargo of coins and other supplies destined to aid post Civil War reconstruction.

Passengers and crew were able to evacuate the sinking ship, though some died in a lifeboat before they could be rescued.

Speaking at a lecture at Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI) last week as one of Odyssey Marine Exploration?s five directors, Dr. Saul told a packed hall about the discovery which has sparked so much interest that National Geographic has made a full-length documentary.

Odyssey Marine Exploration, based in Tampa, Florida in the US, is a leader in the field of deep-ocean shipwreck exploration, but Dr. Saul says they?re more than just explorers, they?re marine archaeologists.

?I have had more fun, enjoyment and learnt more than I ever imagined,? he said.

He said the was discovered in August 2003 in some 1,700 feet (500 meters) of water, about 100 miles (160 kilometres) south-east of Savannah following almost 12 years of searching.

?We devoted more than 1,500 square miles to the search for this elusive ship. Odyssey searching over 1,000 square miles during the two years prior to the discovery using advanced Edgetech Chirp side-scan side-scan sonar and integrated Seaspy Overhauser magnetometer technology,? he said.

And total of 24 possible targets had to be inspected with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) just in case one of them was the .

?We even found a modern day frigate, a fighter jet and a 20th century sailboat,? he said.

When the was found, the research team were hesitant.

?We?d found so many other possible targets, they didn?t want to get their hopes up that it was the , but we sent the ROV down and sure enough, there were two side-wheels, partially buried by sediment and the ship?s rudder sheathed in copper,? he said.

The one find that confirmed that this was in fact their elusive ship was a bell.

When the bell was brought to the surface, Dr. Saul said they all held their breaths, and the letter ?S? and two ?E?s? were revealed.

?Someone actually said ?it?s not her?, but we had to give him a quick history lesson because the had been called the when she was built in 1853. It was her.?

Within the first few days of sending the ROV down, the wealth of the bounty was revealed.

In total more than 51,000 coins were recovered including $20 Double Eagles, $10 Eagles, Half Dollars and Quarter Dollars in outstanding condition.

At the time of the discovery, estimates made from historical records and comparable coin sales placed the cargo?s possible value at $120 to 180 million.

However, the precious coins aren?t the only treasure the gave up.

The wreck site also offers a rare ?time capsule? glimpse into a turbulent and fascinating period of America?s past.

While not much of the ship?s hull remains, the rudder, parts of the paddlewheels, and steam engine are still relatively intact.

Dr. Saul said to date thousands of artefacts have been brought to the surface including bottles in pristine condition, some with their contents still inside.

Contents including olives and steamed apples.

It wasn?t long before Civil War history ?fanatics? in the United States heard about the find and made requests to buy some of these artefacts.

?You won?t believe what these guys are willing to pay for a wooden box with a piece of coal inside,? he said.

While some of these artefacts ? including the bottles, coal and most of the coins ? will be sold, some will be preserved in ?travelling museums? as Dr. Saul calls them.

However, he added that every inch of the ship was documented in pre-disturbance survey work using GPS.

Every inch of the ship was documented for historic record by the team who wanted to share the ship?s story with the public and, as part of this pre-disturbance survey, the team also created a detailed photo-mosaic.

?Small areas of the shipwreck were photographed and then the individual images were ?stitched? together to create the photo-mosaic. This can be used in later study and documentation of the ship,? he said.

Besides the sale of some of the artefacts, the business opportunities which this unique find have opened up are too numerous to name, but even include jig-saw puzzles of the photo-mosaic and yes, wooden boxes containing pieces of coal.

To date approximately 14,000 artefacts have been recovered from the ship.