But the Tampa deep-sea salvager said Thursday it will fight the court's recommendation to restore 594,000 coins worth $500 million to Spain.
Odyssey, the world's only publicly traded company devoted to undersea treasure hunting, saw its stock drop 43 percent in a day. Its shares ended trading Thursday at $2.21.
Odyssey has tussled with Spain over ownership of the mostly silver trove that weighs 17 tons. It's part of the so-called Black Swan find announced in May 2007 and stashed in a vault somewhere in Central Florida.
In an ruling Wednesday, federal Magistrate Judge Mark Pizzo said Spain is the rightful owner of the treasure once carried by the Spanish navy frigate Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes.
A British squadron sunk the Mercedes in international waters off Portugal in 1804. Spain planned to use the precious coins to help finance Napoleonic France's war against Great Britain.
After Odyssey flew the treasure back to Tampa in 550 white plastic buckets, Spanish officials called the company's employees a gang of pirates. Twice in the months after the 2007 announcement, Spain's Civil Guard seized Odyssey ships off the Spanish coast. They were released.