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Gold "tumbaga" bar #M-1014, 310 grams, with 5 tax stamps, 6 fineness markings VI, and letter B or R,

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Coins: Shipwreck Ingots Start Price:15,000.00 USD Estimated At:20,000.00 - 30,000.00 USD
Gold  tumbaga  bar #M-1014, 310 grams, with 5 tax stamps, 6 fineness markings VI, and letter B or R,
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This item SOLD at 2011 Oct 25 @ 15:05UTC-4 : AST/EDT
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Gold "tumbaga" bar #M-1014, 310 grams, with 5 tax stamps, 6 fineness markings VI, and letter B or R, cut at one end. Approx. 9" long, 1" wide on average, and up to 3/8" thick. We are very excited to offer one of the very few GOLD bars found on the "Tumbaga" wreck, which are believed to have been made in Santo Domingo (see pp. 66-67 in our book Tumbaga Saga) from a chaotic mix of gold, silver and copper as used by the natives. The specific density of this bar, according to a recent test done by Herman Blanton, is 10.35 g/cm3, which is above pure copper (8.96), just below pure silver (10.49) and well below pure gold (19.32), indicating a very low fineness of around 3K; but this figure is quite likely skewed by significant impurities. At the opposite end of the spectrum, streak tests (which do not accurately represent anything but the surface) done by Adon Gordus on this bar in 1993, quoted in Armstrong and Christie's, show 70.8% gold, 16.7% silver and 12.5% copper, amounting to a fineness of 17K! Despite the marking of VI on the bar, for 6K, our estimate is 7K-10K, as the color is a little pale but clearly predominantly gold. A natural casting, this bar is thin with rounded edges, with a wealth of markings along its length, interrupted in one place by a natural void, and cut at one end, where the bar was slightly upturned in the process. It has been many years since a "tumbaga" gold bar like this has been on the market, so don't miss this opportunity. From the "Tumbaga" wreck (ca. 1528), and pedigreed to the Christie's 4/93 auction, lot 296, also featured (as a drawing) on page 28 of Spanish Treasure Bars (Craig and Richards, 2003).



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