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

Gun of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha at the Archivo General de Indias

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.

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