On June 24, 2008 our joint venture partners, Blue Water Ventures discovered an amazing, gold chalice on the Margarita
Shipwreck site 35 miles off the coast of Key West. Captain Dan Porter, First Mate Jesse VanHouten, diver Chris Rackley
and Data Specialist Allie Porter all played key roles in the planning and hard work that lead up to this find but it
was diver Michael DeMar who was fortunate enough to be the one to come across the ancient artifact in the birm of
the excavation site.
As soon as the word came into the office that such an amazing artifact had been found Kim Fisher went into his son Sean
Fisher’s office and told him they had to get right out to the site to check it out. Kim Fisher describes the piece
as “an ornate gold chalice. The foot is threaded onto the bottom of the cup. There is intricate detail inscribed
on the rim and there is calcareous concretion that covers much of the gold. In the base of the chalice there is a
crest which may signify an owner whom was undoubtedly one of the wealthy members of the Spanish aristocracy on
board the ship.”
It is difficult to put a value on something so rare and unique but preliminary estimates place it at least a one
million dollar find. According to Captain Dan Porter they’re “continuing up the trail to the North. This is the
northernmost treasure that has been found, by a long shot. It continues to be a very promising area and we’re
looking for more big finds any day.”
A crowd of media and followers who couldn’t wait to see what they had found met the Blue Water Rose and her crew at
the dock this morning. Sean Fisher kept with Mel Fisher’s tradition whenever gold is found and popped a bottle of
Champaign and sprayed the crew. The excitement in the air was contagious and many people on the docks made their
way over to see what all the commotion was about.
The gold chalice has been taken to the conservation lab at Mel Fisher’s Treasures where Senior Conservator John
Corcoran has begun the initial stages of the conservation process. Check back to the website for post- conservation
analysis of the piece along with updated photographs.
This is just the beginning of this year’s treasure hunting season and we cannot wait to see what we will
uncover from both the Santa Margarita and Nuestra Senora de Atocha, Today’s the Day!
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