A DUTCH SILVER VOC (VEREENIGDE OOST-INDISCHE COMPAGNIE) INGOT FROM THE ROOSWIJK CARGO

The Rooswijk was a Dutch East Indiaman which foundered after grounding on the Goodwin Sands at the end of 1739. She had been bound from Amsterdam and the Texel to Jakarta with a precious and general cargo. The site, discovered in 2005 and now a designated site under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973, has already yielded some 1,000 artefacts including some 553 silver ingots like the present example. The ingot, along with the others found, are each approximately 4 lbs and made from silver mined in Mexico before being sold to the Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC and further destined for use in the coinage of Batavia. Another ingot from the same cargo was sold Christie's, London, 28 May 2018, lot 488.