100 Objects #23: Coin From the Ship of Gold

On August 20th, 1857 a ship set sail from the Port of San Francisco with 600 people and thousands of pounds of gold. That gold was destined for the vaults of New York City banks, but it never made it. Instead, the ship sank to the bottom of the ocean, taking all that gold with it. Executive Producer Annie Brown sits down with Roman Mars to tell the story of the sinking of the SS Central America and the gold that sparked the first global financial panic, helped fuel the Civil War, and—over a century later—ruined one man’s life.<...