What is the largest assayer ingot previously known to exist?
The most renowned numismatic reference guide, the Red Book, documents eight specimens that range in weight from 1.5 to 2.5 ounces. The Red Book also records the auction sale of a 2.5-ounce F. D. Kohler ingot (stamped with a $50 currency value) from the Norweb collection for $200,000 in 1989. The Smithsonian Institution received specimens from the famed Ford collection, the largest of which is about 2 ounces — a fraction of the Central Americas prized “Eureka” bar, which weighs 933 ounces. The Eureka bar is stamped with the 1857 currency value of $17,433.57.
