Silver Bar

Accession Number2011.004.0001

VesselNuestra Señora de Atocha (1622)

DescriptionThis silver ingot was being shipped on the galleon Atocha by J. Lopez de Arguinsano on the account of a person named Castaneda. Arguinsano’s stylized “AR” mark with a diamond above is prominent on the face. Another much more elaborate mark might have been Castaneda’s. A central “scoop” on the face of the ingot is a characteristic of ingots produced at Potosí. The scoop was made by the assayer when he sampled the silver to determine the ingot’s purity. A set of small Roman numerals reads IIUCCCLXXX, showing the silver was 2380 parts pure silver of 2400. The bar is also stamped with the larger Roman numeral IUCCCVI (1306), indicating it was the 1306^th bar produced at the Andean mining center in its year. Three shield-style tax stamps show the proper duties had been paid on the silver. A “V” in the corner of the face is the mark of Atocha silvermaster Jacobo de Vreder and an indicator that he registered the bar aboard the galleon. An unusual, well-struck “B” mark is of unknown significance.