Image: A CHINESE GOLD RECTANGULAR SYCEE INGOT FROM THE GELDERMALSEN. Highest bid: 18,000 GBP. Estimate: 20,000-30,000 GBP. (Jam Press/Lawrences Auctioneers)
A small gold bar from a historic shipwreck looks set to fetch £30,000.
The three-inch by one-inch Chinese Sycee gold rectangle dates from 1750.
It weighs just 13 ounces.
It is one of 124 similar gold ingots recovered from the Dutch East India Company ship the Geldermalsen, which struck a reef and sank in the South China Seas in 1752.
It was carrying a fortune in tea, porcelain, and gold.
Over 230 years later, in 1984, divers uncovered what became known as the Nanking carg,o giving a glimpse into global trade in the 18th century.
The recovered items were sold at auction in Europe in the 1980s, with Christie’s in Amsterdam handling the sale of many lots.
Read the full article on What the Jam?:
https://whatsthejam.com/uk-news/small-gold-bar-from-historic-shipwreck-set-to-fetch-30000/
