For lovers of the sea, lost treasure and history, you likely remember Cigar Aficionado’s 2023 coverage of the infamous 1857 sinking of the S.S. Central America. Last year, we focused on the many rare artifacts from the wreck that were going up for auction, which included cigars hand rolled in Havana that were found remarkably intact at the bottom of the ocean nearly 130 years after their initial descent. J.C. Newman Cigars would go on to buy said smokes, which were unveiled at a new exhibit at the Newman’s El Reloj museum and factory in Tampa. This evening, starting at 8 p.m., a three-part documentary series will debut on National Geographic called “Cursed Gold: A Shipwreck Scandal,” that covers the other side of the story: the chaotic, even criminal, expedition leader that discovered the sunken S.S. Central America and ran off with its gold, worth as much as hundreds of millions of dollars.
Scientist Tommy Thompson and his team discovered the S.S. Central America in 1989. The long-heralded and mythologized shipwreck, known to be loaded with literal tons of gold mined in San Francisco, had long captivated the masses. The initial discovery, unsurprisingly, brought this fascination back to the forefront. But what unfolded over the next several decades would only serve to make this once-in-a-lifetime tragedy all the more notorious. This post-discovery, Hollywood-like story is what National Geographic seeks to highlight in the new series debuting tonight.
The cigars currently on display at J.C. Newman’s El Reloj factory and museum are still in fair condition considering they spent more than 130 years in a trunk on the bottom of the sea. (Photo/J.C. Newman Cigars)
You can watch it on the National Geographic channel starting at 8 p.m. EST. It will also be available for streaming on Hulu and Disney+. All three episodes of the three-part series will be released this evening, Wednesday August 21, in successive order, each slated for hour-long slots.
But before you watch, make sure you have the full context on what might be America’s most historically important, and convoluted, shipwreck. The vast amounts of gold, worth some $1.6 million at the time of the shipwreck and as much as hundreds of millions today, depending on estimates, is wonderfully compelling—as are the cigars that sat on the ocean floor for 130 years and may be the oldest in the world. But these facets are only the beginning. This epic tragedy ties into the Panic of 1857, it involved one of America’s greatest Naval figures and even includes breathtaking, all-American artifacts such as possibly the oldest pair of original Levi Straus jeans. Yet, occurring just years before the Civil War, the complete story of the S.S. Central America is often lost in an historical blindspot. So, prior to tuning in tonight, make sure you have the full story of this American odyssey and tragedy: