Silver Bar
Physical Object
1997.001.0001
Nuestra Señora de Atocha (1622)
circa 1622
Silver ingot number 650 (note the Roman numeral DCL stamp) recovered from the wreck of the 1622 galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha. The ingot was cast in the Andean mining city of Potosí and was being shipped to Spain by Miguel de Munibe on his own account. Munibe’s mark is the combined “MB” stamped into the surface. Other marks include tax stamps, the purity value, Atocha silvermaster Jacobo de Vreder’s “V,” and the assayer’s “scoop,” where a sample of silver was removed at the foundry for purity testing. The ingot is 35.2 centimeters long and weighs 34.6 kilograms (76.26 pounds).