Gold treasure discovered off the south Devon coast has gone on public display at the British Museum in London for the first time. The find includes Islamic gold coins, ingots, nuggets and jewellery believed to be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Found on the coast of South East England

The treasure was discovered when the sea bed shifted at the site of a 17th century shipwreck near the port of Salcombe. The site was placed under official protection last month when the Department of Culture imposed an emergency order under the Protection of Wrecks Act.

Nothing now remains of the vessel, which may have been used for carrying valuable trade between Britain and Africa.

Treasures worth millions wait to be discovered

The wreck was first discovered under about 45ft (15m) of water in 1992 by a local diver and member of the South West Marine Archaeological Group. At that time it was described as a cannon site with nothing else visible, similar to around 2,000 other wrecks off the south coast. But in 1994, when SWMAG returned to the site, they found the sea bed had shifted to reveal numerous gold artifacts and the wreck, still under excavation, was protected by the department's order because of its historical and archaeological importance.

Treasure found in British waters

The treasure is one of a number of exciting finds in British waters which, in recent years, have told more and more about life in the past - and yielded up treasure.

The discoveries include:

• The Swan, a 350-year-old man-of-war was found in 1979 perfectly preserved in silt off the coast of Scotland's Isle of Mull, containing clothing, weapons and carvings. It was found by a navy diving instructor who was fishing for lobsters.
• The 1763 wreck of the packet Hanover was found earlier this year off Cligga Head, near Perranporth in Cornwall. Work is being rushed through because it is deteriorating. It is thought to contain gold coins worth an estimated £50 million.
• Remnants of what could be the world's oldest ship were found in 1992 off the coast of Hampshire. The timbers have been dated back more than 6,000 years and are thought to have belonged to an Egyptian sailing ship.
• Gold and silver coins found along the coastline near Ilfracombe, Devon, during the past 20 years, eventually lead to the treasure ship London sunk 200 years ago. It also contained the remains of 60 black slaves.
• Henry VIII's flagship, the Mary Rose, was found on the bed of the Solent 30 years ago and eventually raised.
• Gold worth an estimated £5 billion is thought to lie at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in ships which sank while bringing precious metal cargoes from the New World between 1500 and 1720.
• There are thousands of wreck sites around the 50,000 square miles of British coastline - but only a few are officially protected.

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