2407

"Tumbaga" silver rodela, or moon-disc (Tarascan culture of Mexico, 1500s) stamped with Spanish Charl

Currency:USD Category:Artifacts / Shipwreck Artifacts Start Price:12,500.00 USD Estimated At:15,000.00 - 20,000.00 USD
 Tumbaga  silver rodela, or moon-disc (Tarascan culture of Mexico, 1500s) stamped with Spanish Charl
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This item SOLD at 2010 Oct 23 @ 13:58UTC-4 : AST/EDT
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"Tumbaga" silver rodela, or moon-disc (Tarascan culture of Mexico, 1500s) stamped with Spanish Charles V tax seal and fineness (2200/2400), extremely rare and important. Approx. 3 lb, 14" in diameter. As outlined and illustrated in our newly released book The "Tumbaga" Saga (see lot #2789), this large, unique, plate-like disc of copper-silver alloy is an original Tarascan artifact that was probably an offering to their moon god and supplied to their Spanish conquerors upon urgent request. Among very few extant Mesoamerican artifacts and in fact the only one of its kind known with official Spanish markings, this disc is probably the specific kind of item being referred to in a 1527 document reporting the taxing and marking of 1180 marks of silver in "plates or discs" of "plata comun de Michoacan" on behalf of Cortes. Its brethren were undoubtedly melted down to make the silver "tumbaga" bars from the same wreck. This single surviving disc shows a light assay-clip on edge and markings of the same Roman-style fineness and circular tax stamp as on the bars, a 4" center depression for stacking, light pitting all over and a light ripple from bending but 100% intact. By all accounts this is a museum piece that has eluded exact attribution and appreciation until now. From the "Tumbaga wreck," sunk ca. 1528 off Grand Bahama Island, with photo-certificate signed by Herbert Humphreys, Jr.