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Gold cut "tumbaga" bar, 307.2 grams, approximately 10K-12K, marked with Emperor Charles V tax stamps

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Shipwreck Ingots Start Price:15,000.00 USD Estimated At:25,000.00 - 50,000.00 USD
Gold cut  tumbaga  bar, 307.2 grams, approximately 10K-12K, marked with Emperor Charles V tax stamps
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This item SOLD at 2023 Nov 02 @ 09:57UTC-4 : AST/EDT
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Gold cut "tumbaga" bar, 307.2 grams, approximately 10K-12K, marked with Emperor Charles V tax stamps and fineness VI, extremely rare, ex-"Tumbaga Wreck" (ca. 1528), ex-Christie's. 5" long, 1-1/2" wide. Very well-marked piece (enhanced by toning) with no fewer than six stamps of fineness VI (25% gold) in incuse rectangles and seven partial circular tax stamps that show various parts of CAROLVS ENPERATOR [sic] for Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (Charles I of Spain), with wide bulbous round end tapering to narrower middle where this bar was broken from a larger strap, interesting color that is exactly how you would imagine a copper-gold mix to look, XRF tested at 45% gold, 5% silver, and 50% copper (possibly indicative of a suspected intentionally under-valued assay in its time). From a reported find of twenty gold bars, this piece was one of only four that sold in the original Christie's auction in 1993; eight others in the auction were mysteriously withdrawn, two of which sold in Sedwick auctions in recent years, as did one more that never went to Christie's. While this bar is not listed in Garcia-Barneche's Tumbaga Saga (2018), its markings resemble the style of the one illustrated on page 67. Where these bars were cast is still under debate (some say Mexico, others say Santo Domingo); but in any case their low fineness is clear evidence of the smelting of native artifacts as opposed to mined and refined gold, and as such this bar and its companions are extremely rare relics of one of the most important series of events in the history of the Western Hemisphere. "Tumbaga Wreck" (ca. 1528), with Sedwick photo-certificate, pedigreed to the Christie's (London) auction of April 28, 1993 (lot 288), accompanied by a copy of The Tumbaga Saga (2018), by Agustin Garcia-Barneche. NOTE: A rendering and analysis of this bar appear on pages 26-27 of Spanish Treasure Bars (2003), by Craig and Richards.