Non-wreck (early 1500s) 231. Gold “oro corriente” cut piece of an ingot, 27.90 grams, marked with Charles I tax stamp. 1” x 1/2” x 7/16”. Neatly cut chunk of a “finger” bar, with three very sharp, sloping cuts, the narrow top with faint crowned-C mark (the bottom smooth), probably meant to approximate an 8 escudos. From a Spanish colonial site in the southern Caribbean. Estimate: $3,000-$4,500.
Atocha, sunk in 1622 west of Key West, Florida
232. Complete gold “finger” bar #1575, 726 grams, marked with fineness XXIII: (23.5K) and serial number 158, from the
Atocha (1622). 5-1/4” x 1” x 1/2”. Typical specimen with boldly engraved fineness but lightly inscribed serial number next to a depression from shrinkage at the time of casting that now bears gray encrustation from the sea, the rounded bottom with light encrustation at one end and stamps “84” (for 1984) and an old-English “A” (for Atocha) applied by the salvagers. Interestingly, the bars of this type never show any assayer’s “bite,” which leads researchers to conclude they were either contraband (unlikely because of the markings) or belonged to the church or the crown. From the Atocha (1622), with Fisher photo-certificate #A84-1575. Estimate: $30,000-up.
233. Flat, cut, gold bar #32, 342 grams, marked with fineness XXII (22K) and foundry/assayer SARGOSA / PECARTA, from the Atocha (1622). 4-1/2” x 1” x 5/16”. Two bold fineness stamps and one full but weaker foundry/assayer plus three circular tax stamps
(partial), with cylindrical assayer’s “bite” at rounded end and the other end sharply sliced, the bottom hand-inscribed “A85-32” by the salvagers, an attractive size and shape with lots of markings. From the Atocha (1622), with Fisher photo-certificate #85A-GB0032. Estimate: $17,500-up.
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