Silver Bar

Accession Number1997.002.0001

VesselNuestra Señora de Atocha (1622)

Datecirca 1622

DescriptionThis sliver bar was being shipped on the galleon Atocha by a person named Alarcon, whose stylized “A” mark is stamped prominently of the face. The bar was being sent to a person named Medina on behalf of another named Garcia. 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 IIUCCCLXXX, showing the silver was 2380 parts pure silver of 2400. This silver ingot bears a larger Roman numeral CLXXXIX (189), meaning it was the 189^th silver bar produced at that Andean mining center in its year. The face is marked with four shield-style tax stamps, proof that the 20% tax on the value of the silver had been paid. A large “V” at one end of the face is the mark of Atocha silvermaster Jacobo de Vreder, and it shows that he had registered the ingot on board the galleon. Two other marks from and earlier transaction have been hammered and obliterated.