EXCLUSIVE

REPORTS of the discovery of King Charles I's coronation riches last night triggered a transatlantic treasure war involving two independent expeditions.

The group which claims to have found the wreck described the odds that it was the king's ferry as better than even.

However, San Diego-based diver Bill Warren, who heads a rival team, said: ''We

have really done our homework on this and I am absolutely not convinced.''

Mr Warren, who formed a Scottish company, Golden Quest, for the project, said he had spent seven months dealing with various authorities, including the

Crown

Estates Commissioners, to secure permission to search the sea bed.

''I will be over in a week, if not sooner, and I expect real conflict. I have had a few threatening calls but I don't give up and I am not backing away from

this project.''

Mr Warren said the reported find of a 60ft by 12ft solid timber structure in 120ft of water one mile off Burntisland was highly unlikely to be the Blessing

of Burntisland, which sank in 1633.

Previous quests for the Burntisland treasure have been marked by a degree of animosity between American and Scottish interests.

However, Mr Warren is proceeding with a treasure map on which the spot has

been

marked by a professor of oceanography at San Diego State University,

Professor

William Wallace.

Unlike others, Professor Wallace took account of the change from the Julian to

Gregorian calendars to get the precise date of the sinking, and plotted this against the moon's position and tidal movements. ''I would have liked more precise details of the time the ferry left. But if I am correct, everyone else

has been wrong because they have been looking in the wrong place,'' he said last night.

In a previous foray into marine archaeology, he successfully located two US ships sunk by the British off Maine during the War of Independence.

The team which made the find said it would take months to confirm if it was

the

ferry. They said they must now complete a pre-disturbance survey and

formulate

a plan after archeological divers survey the site in spring. Team leader Howard Murray said it would cost millions to prepare for the raising of items from the vessel.

Mr Murray, chief conservator on the Mary Rose, which was raised from the

Solent

in 1982, said he would not disturb what would be the most important marine archaeologial site of the decade, until the millions needed to protect it had been raised.

''I don't want to be remembered as the person who destroyed the King Charles I

ferry. The Mary Rose cost more than #5m to raise, which was paid by the state and sponsorship, and it will also be very costly to save this vessel and its contents.''

Mr Murray said attracting sponsorship outwith the local Fife community had

been

''near impossible'' without proof the vessel was actually the king's ferry, which is believed to still have a 280-piece silver dinner set originally commissioned by King Henry VIII as well as priceless jewellery on board.

However, Mr Warren said confirmation of the wreck could be done within a day, without any damage, by taking a small sample for carbon dating or by non-invasive sweeping. He said his own extensive researches indicated the

wreck

was likely to be in much shallower water.

Ironically, the quest for what has been billed as ''Britain's Tutan-khamun'' has already created the kind of bitterness which took place among the

ill-fated

discoverers of the Egyptian tomb in the 1920s.

Last month, there were unconfirmed reports of 12 Charles I gold coins, a sword

hilt, and a plate having been recovered by freelance divers in the Forth.

Marine archeological expeditions around the world have always proved expensive

and speculative ventures, where announcements have been timed to attract the attention of potential investors.

In a bizarre twist in the eight-year search, the wreck had previously been located by an English dowser called Jim Longton. It was confirmed by the current searchers, aided by the Royal Navy.

Historic Scotland announced that an order protecting the wreck had been signed

by Scottish Heritage Minister Calum MacDonald.

Charles I, the last king crowned in Scotland and the grandfather of Bonnie Prince Charlie, toured Scotland for a month before crossing the Forth from Burntisland.

Having embarked on his flagship, Dreadnought, he watched in horror as the

ferry

carrying weapons and 35 people capsized in a squall. All but two of the crew perished.