Lot 3526

Description

Spanish America, gold bar, believed to be from the wreck of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha, sunk September 6, 1622, west of Key West in Florida; it is a finger bar of 23 1/2 carats fineness, (155 g = 5 oz troy) of size 83 x 15 x 9 mm. This is a gold bar (likely made from gold recovered from Colombia) which has very clear markings, including a fineness XX III, two royal tax stamps (circular dot bordered stamp marks) and two large dots within a rectangular frame (noticed on other similar ingots with three such dots) and this represents an additional half a carat. The fineness stamps have a clear X and a partial X overstamped by the tax stamp and with the III above and two dots to add to the fineness making it a XXIII and a half or 23 1/2 carat ingot. Very fine and very rare.

Gold bars from the Atocha are among the prime desiderata of shipwreck and sunken treasure enthusiasts. While silver ingots are seen with some frequency, gold ones such as this were not found in massive numbers amidst the great treasure of the Atocha.