1987.021.0001
Silver Bar
Physical Object
1987.021.0001
Nuestra Señora de Atocha (1622)
A central “scoop” on the face of the ingot is a characteristic of ingots produced at Potosí. It was made by the assayer when he sampled the silver to determine the ingot’s purity. Another set of smaller roman numerals read IIUCCCX, showing the silver was 2310 parts pure silver of 2400, affirmed by the adjoining mark of an assayer named Mexia. This silver ingot bears the Roman numeral IUCLXXIIV (1172), meaning it was the 1172nd silver bar produced at that Andean mining center in that year. The face is marked with three shield-style tax stamps and a large “A.” The A indicates the ingot was part of the crown’s annual one-fifth share of the silver from Potosí. It was one of 133 such “A” bars on Atocha.