Tumbaga Shipwreck (1528) Large oval "tumbaga" silver ingot M-157, 24.99 lb av

Description: 

Large oval "tumbaga" silver ingot M-157, 24.99 lb av, marked with fineness IVCCCLXXX (1380/2400 fine), assayer B~Vo, serial RC, and one partial tax stamp, ex-"Tumbaga Wreck" (ca. 1528), García-Barneche Plate.

roughly 14" x 10" x 1". This massive silver "torta" is one of the largest ingots found on this wreck (which represent the very first "treasure" coming from the New World), clearly a natural, mold-less pouring with rough texture on top showing how the various constituent silver objects melted and cooled, the smooth rounded bottom displaying all the markings in a small area, the edge with chip at one end and what appears to be an assayer's "bite" near the other end, all dark gray in color and impressive for display. The biggest disks like this one appeared only at the end of the second printing of Armstrong's book in a section entitled BARS CONSERVED AFTER 1993. XRF testing shows wildly varying results across the surfaces, averaging about 70%-80% silver, 19%-29% copper, and 1% gold, all a function of conservation conditions and not the overall content of the ingot.

From the "Tumbaga Wreck" (ca. 1528), with original Sedwick photo-certificate and Armstrong book Tumbaga Silver for Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire (1993), also plated on page 117 of García-Barneche's book Tumbaga Saga (2nd ed., 2018).

Code: 122504191001