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Small silver "plata corriente" piece with partial tax stamp from the early 1500s, 11.67 grams, about

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Coins: Shipwreck Ingots Start Price:400.00 USD Estimated At:500.00 - 1,000.00 USD
Small silver  plata corriente  piece with partial tax stamp from the early 1500s, 11.67 grams, about
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Small silver "plata corriente" piece with partial tax stamp from the early 1500s, 11.67 grams, about 91% fine, found in New Mexico ca. 1985 (very rare provenance). Approx. 1" x ½". Triangular "edge piece" of a "splash" ingot with very deep partial tax stamp showing (G)RAT(IA) in legend, dark but uncorroded, XRF tested at about 91% silver with 5% iridium, 1% lead, and 1% iron. According to the accompanying letters, this typical "plata corriente" piece (used for money before coins were available in quantity in the colonies) was found at the site of the Santiago Pueblo in the Rio Grande River valley near Bernalillo, New Mexico, by amateur archeologist Dee D. Brecheisen in the mid-1980s. Santiago Pueblo was an indigenous community visited by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1541, destroyed in the process but resettled later that century. Coronado was searching for the fabled Seven Cities of Gold, but instead encountered a dozen villages, or pueblos, like this one, peopled by Tiwa-speaking natives, which became known generally as Pueblo Indians. Brecheisen's recoveries at the site included three pieces of "plata corriente" (including this one) and other Spanish items from the early to mid-1500s. With letter from the consignor and provenance statement from the finder's son.