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Flat silver "strap" ingot, 329.3 grams, for making 8R cob blanks, extremely rare, from the 1715 Flee

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Shipwreck Ingots Start Price:2,400.00 USD Estimated At:2,500.00 - 5,000.00 USD
Flat silver  strap  ingot, 329.3 grams, for making 8R cob blanks, extremely rare, from the 1715 Flee
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.
Flat silver "strap" ingot, 329.3 grams, for making 8R cob blanks, extremely rare, from the 1715 Fleet. Approx. 7-1/2" x 1-1/2". All evidence as to how cobs were made at the Mexican mint in the 1600s and 1700s points to the concept of poured "straps" of prescribed weight that were balanced and subdivided into proper-weight blanks for striking--but we have never handled an example of such an item until now! This piece, which is almost EXACTLY the weight of twelve 8R at the prescribed 27.468 grams, shows naturally semi-circular ends and neatly parallel sides, its surfaces dark and rippled from metal-flow. The thickness of this "strap" is 1/4", about twice the thickness of most 8R, so it is assumed that the blanks were somewhat flattened after cutting, which would also account for the wider width of the resultant coins than 1/12 of this piece would seem to indicate. As we see on the coins themselves, the rounded edges from the original ingot contrast sharply with the straight edges where each blank is cut away, with the exception of the single-cut "end of the bar." The winner of this lot will have not only an important 1715-Fleet artifact but also one of the most significant pieces of cob-minting history ever found! (Please see our essay "Straps for Cash" in the catalog for our Auction #7, http://www.sedwickcoins.com/strap.htm.) From the 1715 Fleet.