This,
our third and by far the largest Treasure Auction to date, is truly
a treasure in itself.
Rarely has such a varied and significant selection of
treasures come together in one sale! Here are some highlights:
Among the hottest items on the numismatic market
today are gold cobs, particularly from the Spanish 1715 Fleet off
the east coast of Florida, and this sale features dozens of them,
all carefully selected for quality and eye-appeal.
Next we feature some
small gold ingots and nuggets from the
Espadarte
wreck of 1558 off Mozambique. We offered the first part of this
unique collection of gold pieces in our Treasure Auction #1 a year
ago, and they were well received. This time we are certain of the
shipwreck name, which should boost their interest even further.
Another early important shipwreck find in this
auction is the Michael Goldston collection of silver “tumbaga”
ingots from a still-unidentified wreck of ca. 1528 off the Bahamas.
Mike realized the significance of these bars when they were first
offered in the 1990s and bought up a sizable number of them with an
eye toward investment. That turned out to be a good move, as today
the bars sell for much more, and not just because of the rise of the
melt value of silver. The bars should increase further in value when
a much-anticipated book (which will feature several of the ingots
offered in this auction) by researcher Agustín García-Barneche about
the “tumbaga” finds hits the shelves.
In the shipwreck
coins section of this auction you will find two large offerings: a
second installment of silver cobs from the
Consolación,
sunk off Ecuador in 1681 (the first offering was in our Treasure
Auction #2); and the first-ever auction of silver coins from the
“Coconut wreck” of ca. 1810 sunk in deep water off Bermuda.
The rest of the coin offerings include a
substantial collection of Spanish colonial 8 reales of all different
types and most of the mints, including some scarce Mexican War for
Independence issues. Augmenting this collection are several
consignments of silver cobs from the various colonial mints.
As usual, the most impressive treasures in this
auction are in the artifacts section, where you will see an original
mariner’s astrolabe from a Florida wreck (ca. 1580), many small
artifacts from the Arqueonautas finds off Africa, and some beautiful
Chinese porcelains from wrecks off the Philippines (the Ying Lung
collection).
As always, we hope you enjoy this catalog and find
some treasure for your own collection. Happy hunting!
- Daniel Frank Sedwick
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