Incan Treasure: A Room Full of Gold and 2x as Much Silver
When the Spanish Conquistador, Francisco Pizarro, arrived in what is modern Peru to explore the coast for rumored large cities full of gold and silver, they entered the final stages of a civil war between the Emperor, Atahualpa, and his defeated brother, Huáscar, and as a result the Incan Empire was relatively militarized compared to normal times. The Spanish men under Pizarro, roughly 160 men, were intimidated by the three large armies led by Atahualpa’s generals, but requested a meeting with him nonetheless. Atahualpa was surrounded by men fiercely loyal to him so was not fearful of the small numbers Spanish. On November 16, 1532, Atahualpa agreed to meet with the Spanish in Cajamarca in the Andes.
Pizarro hid his cavalrymen and artillerymen around the square in Cajamarca. Pizarro then sent Father Vicente de Valverde to meet the Inca: the friar showed the Inca a breviary, a Christian prayer book. The Inca looked through the book and, unimpressed, threw it to the ground. The Spanish, whether truly insulted or utilizing this sacrilege as an excuse to attack, attacked the town. The square was quickly filled with heavily armed Spaniards on foot and horseback who proceeded to massacre the native nobility and warriors as cannon roared and terrified the Incas. The Spanish suffered no casualties due to their heavy armor. Atahualpa was taken hostage by the Spanish as a part of this action, and placed under heavy guard in the Temple of the Sun where he finally met Pizarro.
The Incan Emperor was viewed as quasi-Godlike so his three generals outside of Cajamarca decided to not attack the Spanish for fear that they may kill the Emperor. The Spanish were aware of these generals and their armies and greatly feared them. Atahualpa witnesses the Spanish quickly loot dead bodies, temples, and other areas of all the gold and silver that they could find so he knew where their interests lay. He offered to fill a room that measured 22 feet long by 17 feet wide 8 feet high of gold and silver and Pizzaro and the Spanish quickly accepted the offer. Atahualpa sent out couriers to request gold and silver be brought to Cajamarca from all over the Incan Empire. Soon, porters hauled as much gold and silver to the room as they could find and the room quickly became crowded with the precious metal items of the Incas. Priceless works of art in gold, silver and ceramic were among the treasures brought, along with tons of precious metals in jewelry and temple decorations. The Spanish smashed the priceless objects to pieces so that the room would have more room to be filled with gold and silver.
Regardless of Atahualpa fulfilling his promise, the Spanish executed him after a trial for treason. The Spanish were fearful that one of his generals, Rumiñahui, was on the way to free him and the Incas and had decided he had become too great of a liability. All of the treasure obtained in the ransom was melted down, forged into 22 karat gold and recorded. Atahualpa’s ransom in total included over 13,000 pounds of gold and twice that much silver, amounting to a little under $300 million based on gold and silver spot prices in June 2021. Most of us know that the true value in today’s gold and silver value if the spot price was not heavily manipulated would be in the billions.
After the King of Spain’s “royal fifth” was allocated for, the treasure was divided up among the original 160 men according to a complicated arrangement involving footmen, horsemen and officers. The least paid of the soldiers received 45 pounds of gold and 90 pounds of silver. Pizarro received roughly 14X the amount of a common soldier, plus “gifts” such as Atahualpa’s throne, which was made of 15 karat gold and weighed 183 pounds. A rumor persists to this day that large amounts of gold and silver were still en route to Cajamarca when word of the Emperor’s execution arrived and a general ordered the treasure hidden in a cave. A few have claimed to have located this treasure over the ages but it has never been verified and those who have claimed to have located it have either lost it or died of mysterious circumstances.
www.bulliontp.com
Join: https://www.bulliontp.com/en/login
reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bullion_TP/
Gab: https://gab.com/BullionTP
CloutHub: https://clthb.co/9APChFY3ewfSgwie9
Telegram: https://t.me/bulliontp
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bulliontp
twitter: https://twitter.com/BullionTp
