56

Gold "finger" bar 13, 22 oz troy (684 grams), marked with fineness XXIII: (23.5K) and weight 148-6 (

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Coins: Shipwreck Ingots Start Price:75,000.00 USD Estimated At:90,000.00 - 180,000.00 USD
Gold  finger  bar 13, 22 oz troy (684 grams), marked with fineness XXIII: (23.5K) and weight 148-6 (
CURRENT BID
0.00USD
ENTER YOUR MAXIMUM ABSENTEE BID[?]
You must bid at least
75,000.00USD
USD
75,000.00 x 1 unit = 75,000.00USDApplicable fees & taxes are added at checkout.
[?]Live Online Auction Starts In 2026 Nov 05 @ 09:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
By registering for our auction, you agree to the terms and conditions.
Gold "finger" bar 13, 22 oz troy (684 grams), marked with fineness XXIII: (23.5K) and weight 148-6 (castellanos-tomines), ex-Atocha (1622), pre-"Mother Lode," ex-Morse. 4¾" x 1" x ½". This gold bar, impressively high in intrinsic value, was among at least fourteen of its kind found in one cache on the Atocha in 1982, which turned out to be a very interesting grouping of ingots that all lack tax stamps or any other marks except fineness and weight, both of which were simply carved into the surface and not stamped. Significantly, both numbers are quite accurate, the fineness confirmed by XRF (23.5K gold, with about 2% silver and traces of platinum, copper, and iron only) and the weight calculated as 148 castellanos of 4.6 grams each plus 6 tomines at 0.575 gram each, hence 684 grams or 22 oz troy (certificate says 22.09). At first it was postulated that these had to be "church" bars, as the wealth of the Catholic Church would not have been taxed, and since the bars were not for commerce, no record of an assay was needed either. We have seen a similar situation with gold ingots belonging to South American missions among the salvaged items from the Luz wreck of 1752. The contravening theory that these Atocha bars were contraband instead seems less plausible when you consider that most contraband lacked any markings at all. We may never know the whole story behind these ingots, but what is incontrovertible is that they are among the purest and most intrinsically valuable gold items from the Atocha.

Like the others of this type, this specific ingot is well molded, with smooth sides and bottom (stamped with its Treasure Salvors number 13A) and with the top a bit sunken from casting, traces of coral in small bubble-pits and in the markings. From the Atocha (1622), with original Fisher color photo-certificate A13-82 dated June 6, 1984, pedigreed to the J.M. Morse III Collection.