“Antiquity is the aristocracy of history.”
-Alexandre Dumas Père

Dwarfed by a penny, its delicate filigree metal-work could easily be crushed between your fingers.  Yet, amazingly, this small gold bead has survived nearly four hundred years on the bottom of the sea.

Most likely once part of a rosary, the bead experienced markedly better luck than the ship that carried it, the Santa Margarita.  The Margarita along with her sister ship the Nuestra Senora de Atocha were part of a 1622 treasure fleet transporting unimaginable wealth from the New World back to Spain for the crown.  The trip was cut short when a massive storm sank both vessels not far from the Florida Keys.

Since 2008 Aqua Survey has been providing surveys of the wreckage debris trails of the Margarita and Atocha.  The bead, as well as a dagger which Aqua Survey helped recover, was a gift from Captain Dan Porter of Blue Water Ventures in gratitude of the EM survey work we provided him as a client.

Blue Water Ventures worked the widely dispersed Margarita trail from 2006 to 2011 recovering more than $16 million in rare and extraordinary treasures and artifacts.

Whether it’s a handgun, a priceless artifact or an unexploded Mark 81 bomb, if it’s underwater we’ll help you find it.