206

End of a Colombian gold bar, 388.3 grams, with markings of assayer/foundry GVSMAN / PAMPLONA, Atocha

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Shipwreck Ingots Start Price:18,500.00 USD Estimated At:20,000.00 - 40,000.00 USD
End of a Colombian gold bar, 388.3 grams, with markings of assayer/foundry GVSMAN / PAMPLONA, Atocha
All items are genuine unless noted. Most shipwreck coins and artifacts come with a certificate of authenticity (please check the description for each item). By bidding in this auction you understand and agree to the Terms and Conditions posted here.
End of a Colombian gold bar, 388.3 grams, with markings of assayer/foundry GVSMAN / PAMPLONA, fineness XX: (20.5K), and tax stamps, from the Atocha (1622). Approx. 2-3/4" x 1-1/2" x 5/8". A rectangular, broken (not cut) end-piece of a wide, flat bar, with bold fineness stamp and full cartouche showing monograms for the name Guzman above location Pamplona, a well-known gold-producing area in Norte de Santander, Colombia, whose caja real (royal treasury office) was founded in 1617, not long before this bar was lost. That might explain the rarity of this marking (missing in the book Spanish Treasure Bars, by Craig and Richards [2003]) among the gold bars of the 1622 Fleet, in contrast with the relatively abundant "SARGOSA" and "EN RADA" specimens. The other half of the cartouche, GVSMAN, clearly refers to someone named Guzman, a very common surname, who was probably the assayer (or similar official) in Pamplona. The consignor, however, intriguingly attributes this mark to Don Diego de Guzman (as owner), who was a magistrate in Cuzco, Peru, and perished as a passenger on the Atocha. What is also neat about this bar is the presence of encrustation, as small streaks of black on top and white patches in the bubbly pits on the bottom, the surfaces also fraught with stress fractures and light scratches, with small cylindrical "bite" in one corner. A highly desirable bar for its rarity and compactness. From the Atocha (1622), with Fisher photo-certificate #GB-48, and letters from the consignor describing his attribution to Diego de Guzman.


Watch our promotional video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y637H9OIMX4&hd=1