  | A stash of gold coins found in January is the latest piece of evidence that a shipwreck 40-plus miles off the North Carolina coast is that of the steamship Pulaski, which exploded and took half its wealthy passengers to the bottom of the Atlantic in 1838.
Divers found 14 gold coins and 24 silver coins in a spot “no bigger than a cigar box.” All predate the ship’s sinking.
Those involved have one particular passenger in mind: Charles Ridge, a man who survived but lost $20,000 in the disaster, all of it in gold coins. So far, divers have found 51 U.S., Spanish and Mexican coins during a half dozen visits. |  |
