Trade Bead Recovered from HMS Bounty Wreckage Site - Mutiny on the Bounty

Description

H.M.S. BOUNTY
.  A trade bead from the wreckage site of the H.M.S. Bounty.  The Bounty was a Royal Navy vessel under the command of Captain William Bligh sent to Tahiti in 1787 to acquire breadfruit plants.  Fletcher Christian was the master’s mate who led a mutiny and seized command of the ship on April 28, 1789.  The mutineers settled on Pitcairn Island where they burned and sunk the ship at the bottom of Bounty Bay on January 23, 1790.  Trade beads were decorative glass beads used by the crew of the Bounty as currency to exchange for goods and services during their voyage.  The trade bead measures 0.5” by 0.5” and is in overall good condition.
VIRTUALLY NONEXISTENT TRADE BEAD FROM THE WRECKAGE SITE OF THE H.M.S. BOUNTY
The trade bead was acquired from Tony Probst.  Probst is the largest private collector of Bounty relics.  He has visited Pitcairn four times and has developed a very close friendship to the inhabitants of the island.  Probst was also close friends with Luis Marden, a well-known writer, photographer, diver, and explorer for the National Geographic Society who discovered the remains of the Bounty at the bottom of Bounty Bay in Pitcairn.  He acquired his Bounty collection primarily from the inhabitants of Pitcairn and Marden.  Probst is well known in his field and provides his expertise to major auction houses and Antique Road Show appraisers.
According to Probst, only a hand full of trade beads from the Bounty exist and they, along with several coins and musket balls, were all discovered by Marden at the wreckage site of the Bounty.  All of the Bounty trade beads are located in Probst’s Bounty collection with the exception of the current example being offered for sale.  Probst has provided me with a certificate of authenticity and photographs of the trade beads on Pitcairn and on display at his museum that all attest to the genuineness of the trade beads.
TRADE BEADS WERE DECORATIVE GLASS BEADS USED BY THE CREW OF THE BOUNTY AS CURRENCY TO EXCHANGE FOR GOODS AND SERVICES
This is the first offering of a Bounty trade bead on the private market and a once in a lifetime time opportunity to acquire this historical piece.  The first offering of a coin from the wreckage site of the Bounty offered for sale sold for ,375 at Bonhams in September of 2016.