Stack’s Bowers offered a silver ingot with an interesting story during the Aug. 8 Precious Metals Auction. The Bombay Mint 1,050.4-ounce silver ingot was the top lot of the 393-lot sale, realizing $33,641.79.

The ingot was recovered from the wreckage of the S.S. Gairsoppa, which was sunk by German torpedoes during World War II.

The S.S. Gairsoppa, a British steamship, was launched in 1919 and served in a civilian capacity for 20 years before being recruited for the war effort. Its fateful voyage started in December 1940, departing from Calcutta with a cargo that included around seven million ounces of silver, bound for Liverpool. The vessel joined a convoy, but fell back due to weather and low coal supplies. Its destination was changed to Galway, Ireland, but the vessel was noticed by German patrols.

The SS Gairsoppa was struck by torpedoes on Feb. 16, 1941, and sunk. One person from the 86-person crew survived, after two weeks at sea.

Attempts were made to salvage the treasure from the ship’s resting place, three miles deep. In 2012, Odyssey Marine Exploration used technological advances to start the process of retrieving some of the Gairsoppa’s silver load. In total, 462 ingots, each weighing between 1,000 and 1,100 ounces and featuring a royal hallmark, a unique serial number and sequence number were set aside for the collecting community.

Two other lots from the sale exceeded $20,000: A Credit
Suisse 10-ounce .9999 fine gold bar realized $24,190.81, while a lot comprising 38 gold sovereigns with a combined weight of 8.98 ounces of gold realized $21,626.24.

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