An American treasure hunter has been granted a second chance to apply for a licence to recover artifacts from a wrecked tall ship that was part of a fleet carrying loot plundered from the White House during the War of 1812.

The Nova Scotia Supreme Court ruled this week that the provincial government erred when it failed to give the company a chance to counter claims by the British government that the HMS Fantome still belongs to England.

The company, Sovereign Exploration Associates International Inc., has conducted dives on the site off Prospect, N.S., and planned to recover some of the thousands of coins and other artifacts on the ocean floor.

But that plan was shelved when the British government claimed that it still owned the famed Royal Navy vessel that sank on Nov. 24, 1812.

At the time, the two-masted, square-rigged brig was leading a convoy of ships to Halifax three months after British and Canadian troops invaded Washington, looting and torching the U.S. president’s home and all public buildings. Read Full Story