The Collector

It started 80 feet down,
on a wreck from 1867.

That dive is where the diver, the historian, and the collector in me finally became one person.

Diving the wreck of the RMS Rhone in the British Virgin Islands — RMS Rhone - British Virgin Islands

Hi, my name is Chris Olive.

The first time I dropped onto the RMS Rhone, off Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands, I understood the mission before I had words for it. The ocean had not erased her - it had kept her.

I swam through the open ribs of her hull and felt a direct, physical line to a moment in history. No book. No museum. Just water, wreckage, and the particular silence of a place that remembers.

I've been a collector my whole life, always drawn to the history behind an object more than the object itself. The pull that started in shoeboxes and binders eventually led me to the ocean.

Shipwreck coins are the closest I can get to putting that feeling in a case: artifacts of exploration, trade, and human ambition pulled from the same kind of water I dive.

Every piece is hand-selected from an authenticated wreck site and documented to its recovery source, with original tags or certificates retained wherever possible.

One of my long-held dreams is to join an active salvage operation. Until then, I'm building this collection piece by piece, wreck by wreck, the way the Rhone first taught me to.

Each coin is a witness. The mission is to bring them all home.

Below the Surface

The diver behind the collection.

Holding an 80+ pound Atocha silver bar at the ANA World's Fair of Money — Holding an 80+ lb Atocha silver bar, ANA World's Fair of Money.

Diving a Caribbean reef wall — Reef wall, Caribbean.

Diving with sharks at the Georgia Aquarium — Diving with sharks, Georgia Aquarium.

Aquarium dive seen through the viewing glass — Through the glass, Georgia Aquarium.

Diving Molokini Crater, Hawaii — Molokini Crater, Hawaii.

Diving at Disney's Epcot aquarium — Disney's Epcot aquarium.

Diving off the coast of Maui — Open water off Maui.

Diving at The Crater in Midway, Utah — The Crater, Midway, Utah - 6,000 feet above sea level.

Certifications

PADI & Emergency Response Credentials

Rescue Diver

PADI certified

Advanced Open Water

PADI certified

Night Diver

Specialty cert

Multilevel Diver

Specialty cert

Underwater Naturalist

Specialty cert

EFR Primary & Secondary Care

First aid

Dive Log

Places I've been underwater.

British Virgin Islands

White Bay, BVI
Cooper Island, BVI - Maria L Shipwreck
RMS Rhone, BVI
Beata Shipwreck, BVI
Great Dog Island Airplane Wreck, BVI
Mountain Point, Virgin Gorda, BVI
Alice's Wonderland, BVI
Great Tobago, BVI

Maui & Hawaii

Airport Beach, Maui
The Lānaʻi Cathedrals, Maui
Molokini Crater, Hawaii
Turtle Town, Hawaii
Black Rock, Maui

California Coast

Refugio State Beach, California
Catalina Island, California
Laguna Beach, California
East Fish Camp, Anacapa, California

Mexico

MUSA (Museo Subacuático de Arte), Mexico

Aquarium Dives

Maui Ocean Center Shark Tank, Maui
Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta, GA
Epcot, Orlando, FL

High-Altitude Dive

The Crater, Midway, Utah

In the Press

The collection, in print.

The SS Japan Trade dollars - the first ever certified from that wreck - have been covered by two of the hobby’s most respected outlets. Tap any clipping to read the pages.

COIN WORLD

June 8, 2026 · News & Analysis Feature