Large gold ingot 77, 2274 grams, marked with fineness XVII (17K), foundry/assayer cartouche SEBATN / ESPANOL, ex-Atocha (1622), ex-Christies (1988). 8-3/4" x 1-1/2" x 3/4". Large shipwreck gold bars, especially when complete and uncut like the present piece, are rare and command a premium in this age of trophy collecting with unlimited spending power. They are also an investment in gold, with high intrinsic value that has continued to rise in recent years. For the investment-savvy collector of means, therefore, we present this well-marked and impressively large ingot as one of the top trophies available from the Atocha shipwreck. Its shape is a "riel" (strap), as opposed to the common narrow "finger" bars designed to be easily cut into pieces to make "oro corriente," although a profusion of stamps means this big ingot was probably meant for dividing as well. The cast surface is slightly rugged, as made, and the color is a nice even yellow. The sides and bottom have no markings except for the Treasure Salvors number 77 stamped on the bottom, but the top is tattooed with no less than eight partial tax stamps (with circular borders of dots and some legend lettering including kings ordinal III and retrograde S in PHILIPPVS and HISPANIARVM) and five fineness markings, each consisting of XVII in an incuse box. Best of all, near the center is the foundry/assayer mark SEBATN/ESPANOL, which is currently unattributed. Usually such markings on these bars refer to mining regions in Colombia, but in this case it might just be an assayer name, especially considering the bars unusual size and shape. In any event, it is one of the rarest marks seen, with only two examples known to us, the other being the heaviest gold bar of all from this wreck. As usual, the assayers "bite" (where metal was removed for testing before applying the fineness marks) was taken from one corner, apparently where a bubble in the metal created a small natural void anyway. As one of the largest bars to hit the market in decades, this lot presents a near-unique opportunity to own one of the Atochas top treasures. From the Atocha (1622), with original Fisher photo-certificate 85A-GB077, pedigreed to the Christies Atocha auction of June 1988 (lot 90).
