US deep-sea explorer firm Odyssey told a US court it refuses to recognise Spain as owner of a massive treasure haul recovered from a shipwreck in the Atlantic, a company source said.

Lawyers for the firm based in Tampa, Florida argued before an appeals court in the neighbouring state of Georgia for a reversal of a 2009 decision by a trial judge that recognised Spain as rightful owner of the galleon treasure, which includes more than half a million coins and pieces of gold and silver.

“The district court erred in awarding Spain the coins. Without jurisdiction over the property, the court has no authority to dispose of the coins other than to return them to the party in possession at the time the matter came before the court,” the lawyers said in their presentation.

Odyssey is embroiled in a prolonged legal battle with Spain, as well as with descendants of the ship’s owners and Peru, which claims the pricey gold and silver originated in the country.

In May 2007, Odyssey an-nounced it found an underwater motherlode of coins and other precious objects in a sunken 19th century galleon they code-named the “Black Swan”.

Odyssey said the 17-ton treasure was found in “international waters in the Atlantic Ocean,” but never gave an exact location citing security concerns.

Spain’s suspicions were raised when the company discreetly shipped its massive find to the US via the British-owned port of Gibraltar.

“Spain is not the defendant in this case nor is any vessel,” the lawyers said in their presentation, according to the company source.

“The defendant is property recovered from international waters, namely the 590,000 coins.”