Watch List notes:

Complete gold "strap" ingot for making oro corriente pieces, marked five times with circular tax stamp of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (Charles I of Spain) and C inside box, 1128 grams, estimated 22K, very rare, from an unidentified early 1500s wreck in the Caribbean. 10-1/2" x 1-1/4" x 1/4". It is tempting to call this object simply a "gold bar," but that does not convey its full importance, as its near-uniform flatness and its markings all indicate that this piece is the first example ever recorded of a complete "strap" (in Spanish: riel) for cutting into the known (but very rare) money pieces (small) known as "oro corriente," which were used in place of actual gold coins (which were in short supply) in the colonies and thus represent the "first fish out of the lake" from the colonies in terms of local gold coinage. The markings are of two types (each represented five times on this piece): a simple C inside a box, presumably for Charles I (or possibly for Castilla de Oro, the original name for Panama), and a circular tax stamp with legend CAROLVS IMPERATOR around a castle (again supporting the Castilla de Oro theory). Also noteworthy is that these are the same markings seen on the oro corriente pieces (but not the bars) recovered from the ca.-1528 "Tumbaga Wreck," which means this bar (and possibly the wreck that yielded it) dates back to the 1520s. If the Castilla de Oro theory is correct, then this piece could date back as far as 1519, when the Panama area was governed by the famous "Pedrarias" (Pedro Arias Dávila) and just after Charles became Holy Roman Emperor (he had been ruling Spain since 1516). Note the lack of any assayer's "bite" or markings of fineness, one of the many reasons oro corriente was soon outlawed, despite the continuing need for local coinage. On the other side of the bar are some old but intentional test-scratches but also what appear to be hammered-out places near each end that could have been other markings. A very neat piece overall, attractively yellow-gold in color, impressive in size and unique in importance, especially as the earliest form of Spanish colonial gold treasure we have ever offered. From an unidentified early 1500s wreck in the Caribbean. ($60000-90000)