Genuine Tumbaga Bar from Unidentified Spanish Wreck off Grand Bahama Island ca. 1525 Outstanding, Rare 16th Century Artifact. Tumbaga is a Spanish word of Native American derivation that originally defined an alloy of gold and copper. However it has come to include mostly silver in combination with gold and copper. In the early 1500s native gold and silver artifacts, the earliest "spoils" of the Spanish conquest of New World territories were melted and formed into "tumbaga" ingots for shipments to Spain. These bars were virtually unknown until over 200 of these silver bars were discovered in the wreckage of an unidentified Spanish ship discovered in the Bahamas in 1992. The exact date of the wreck is unknown but portions of tax stamps visible on most of the bars show the name of Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire (Charles I of Spain). Also the bars show a stamped "B-Vo" in monogram (wavy line above the B and the O above the V) representing the name of Bernadino Vásquez a documented assayer for Hernán Cortés. Therefore the bars from this wreck were most likely of Mexican origin. Finally, each bar shows a small "assayers bite" chiseled from one corner by the assayer to analyze the contents and which he could keep as compensation.
Bar comes with its original COA by Daniel Frank Sedwick, Specialist in shipwreck artifacts. Fortunately the specifics of the bar and a full color photo are indicated on the COA. Evidently a small white sticker with poor adhesive was on the bar, " M-71" and fell off years ago which corresponded to a number in a book entitled But the photo an exact match down to the smallest pits and hallmarks and markings which are visible.
Goldberg Auctions had the bar assessed with a high end XRF spectrometer. Numerous readings revealed shifts from 80% to 87% silver content along with significantly smaller levels of iron, copper and zinc. Bar weighs 9.05 pounds or 132.06 troy ounces.
Estimated Value $7,000 - UP
Silver Bars
