King Bling: Antique Gold Chain Worth $250,000 Found Off Florida Keys

[onedef92]

Antique Gold Chain Worth $250,000 Found Off Florida Keys

Mar 27, 2011

A glint of gold in the sand.

That's what caught Bill Burt's eye last week during a dive about 35 miles off the coast of Key West, where he and his crew were searching for the rear section of the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha, which sunk during a hurricane in 1622.

Burt's eyes didn't deceive him -- that glint was gold. A 40-inch gold chain, to be precise.

The chain, believed to be from the Atocha, is estimated to be worth $250,000. The gold links resembling cotter pins -- 55 of them -- are connected to a black-enameled gold cross measuring 2 inches by 1.25 inches. Surrounding the cross are what appear to be Latin inscriptions.

Also attached to the chain, which is similar to a pair of rosary beads, are a gold religious medallion, a black bead and a gold floweret.

The dive was launched from the deck of the JB Magruder, a salvage vessel owned by Mel Fisher's Treasures.

In 1985, Fisher's team recovered a substantial bulk of the Atocha's treasure, about $450 million in artifacts.

Valuable religious relics often were stored in the ship's wooden rear, or sterncastle, where only the wealthiest passengers -- including clergy and nobility -- sat.

The discovery of this chain gives the crew of the JB Magruder hope of finding the Atocha's sterncastle, believed to have been ripped from the ship during a subsequent hurricane.

[jaxgator]

[mrvette]

25+ years ago, a company I worked for, bought the outfit that made the metal detectors that Fisher used in the Atocha recovery....there was one particular unit he loved that was a kludge, but it worked just perfectly....the previous owner was a fellow named Tony.... I forget the last name....he was British....

It's a tough thing to find that sort of treasure, most metal detectors get all unstable in sea water, and so to find small precious metal chunks, like that chain it all registers as a very small piece of metal, all the pieces give off a individual signal, not as a unit/chain.....small pieces have a really short decay time after being energized, so harder to find in sea water than on land....

[onedef92]

Originally Posted by TxAg

Dope headline to boot!

Thanks! Them mofo's really knew how to party back then.

[joecaver]

We visited the Atocha museum in Key West once. It was amazing the amount of goodies they pulled out of that ship wreck.