Fig.1 Two-pound blokgewicht from the Mullion Pin Wreck (1667), showing the date stamps (top to bottom) 1664, 1663 and 1665. Scale in cm. (photo: David Gibbins)
Fig. 2 Two-pound blokgewicht from the Mullion Pin Wreck (1667), showing another view of the date stamps in Fig. 1. (photo: David Gibbins)
I discovered the artefact in these photos in 2018 while diving on the Mullion ‘Pin Wreck’, a mid-17th century merchantman wrecked off the west coast of the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall, England. It is a two-pound Amsterdam blokgewicht (block weight), a type of copper-alloy weight shaped like a truncated cone that was used by Dutch merchants from the 17th to the 19th century (Nagel 2013, 2019; van Diest 2016, 2019). 17th century examples are rarely found, and this is one of the oldest known. The earliest blokgewichten from the early 17th century were usually of bronze, and have relatively straight sides with only a notch near the top for gripping; later ones have a protruding shoulder as an improved gripping edge. Rings were incised around them for decoration, as here. This is an example of the largest of the blokgewichten, which came in six sizes from two pounds down to one half ounce or one lood of c. 15 grams. The actual weight of the artefact, 899.60 grams, is 88.58 grams short of two Amsterdam pounds, indicating that it has lost some 9% of its mass through erosion. It measures approximately 4.4 cm across the top, 5.2 cm across the bottom and 4.9 cm high, with the greatest erosion evident on the upper surface. The wreck site is a shallow, high-energy environment in which artefacts are exposed to abrasion from loose shingle and rocks, and this artefact is in good condition compared to many others from the wreck.
The most striking feature of this weight is the three dates deeply stamped in the top – 1663, 1664 and 1665. These were annual verification marks punched in Amsterdam by the ijkmeester (verifier). Two of these date stamps, 1663 and 1664, are paralleled on a similar two-pound Amsterdam block weight found at Bodegraven, Holland (Nagel 2013: 3863, fig. 2), but the stamp for 1665 is otherwise unknown. Stamped below the dates were the crowned coat of arms of Amsterdam and the initials of the ijkmeester, in this case Jan Adriannsz van Keulen (initials IA)(in office 1653-1683), but only a faint impression of these marks remains. Whereas the date marks were typically deeply punched, the verifier’s stamp was more detailed and more care was taken with the punching iron, with the stamp being less deeply impressed.
Fig. 3 Two-pound blokgewicht from the Mullion Pin Wreck (1667), showing the faint impression of the verifier’s stamp (crowned coat of arms of Amsterdam flanked by letters I and A) (photo: David Gibbins)
As well as being of great intrinsic interest as an artefact and as evidence for mercantile activity on board the ship, the weight now provides the best dating evidence for the wreck. Prior to this, the best evidence among published artefacts was a silver medallion dated 1653 commemorating the coronation of Ferdinand IV of Bavaria, found during the first season of work at the wreck shortly after its discovery in 1969 (McBride et al. 1972: 139, fig. 6). Having nicknamed the site the ‘Pin Wreck’ after the numerous brass clothing pins found in the excavations, the original team established beyond reasonable doubt that the wreck was the Santo Christo de Castello, a Genoese merchantman newly-built in Amsterdam and 'splitt to pieces and cast away neere Mullion' on 5 October 1667 (National Archives, HCA 13/270; McBride et al., 1974: 71).
The weight gives the clearest support for this identification that one could possibly hope to find – the final date stamp of 1665 is consistent with the weight being brought on board at Amsterdam when the ship was fitted out in 1666, and being part of the ship’s equipment during her fateful maiden voyage in 1667.
Copyright © 2019 David Gibbins
Acknowledgements
I am very grateful to Ritzo Holtman, editor of the journal Meten & Wegen (www.gmvv.org) and webmaster of www.muntgewicht.nl, for identifying this weight and sending me copies of published comparisons.
A full report on our investigations at the Mullion Pin Wreck in 2018-19 is currently in preparation. For the latest finds and research follow www.facebook.com/CornwallMaritimeArchaeology. For two other blogs on artefacts from the site, including more weights, see Gibbins 2019a and 2019b.
Fig. 4 View of the Mullion Pin Wreck in 2019, showing two cannons and the findspot of the blokgewicht close to the diver. (photo: Ben Dunstan)
References
HCA = High Court of Admiralty Records, UK National Archives
Gibbins, David, 2019a. A copper-alloy crucified Christ (Corpus Christi) from the Mullion Pin Wreck (1667), off Cornwall, England. http://davidgibbins.com/journal/2019/10/23/a-copper-alloy-crucified-christ-from-the-mullion-pin-wreck-cornwall-england-1667
Gibbins, David, 2019b. Three more marked merchants’ weights from the Mullion Pin Wreck (1667), off Cornwall, England. http://davidgibbins.com/journal/2019/10/29/three-more-marked-merchants-weights-from-the-mullion-pin-wreck-1667-cornwall-england
McBride, P., Larn, R. and Davis, R., 1972. A mid-17th century merchant ship found near Mullion Cove, Cornwall. An interim report. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 1.1: 135-42
McBride, P., Larn, R. and Davis, R., 1974. The mid-17th century merchant ship found near Mullion Cove, Cornwall: Second interim report. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 3.1: 67-79
Nagel, J.H, 2013. Blokgewichten. Meten & Wegen 162 (June 2013): 3862-6
Nagel, J.H., 2019. Bijzondere blokgewichten – deel 8. Meten & Wegen 186 (June 2019): 4438
van Diest, Ad, 2016. Blokgewichten: Reactie op het artikel ‘Blokgewichten’. Gepubliceerd op pp. 3862-3866. Meten & Wegen 176 (December 2016): 4191-4203
van Diest, Ad, 2019. IJkmerken op enkele blokgewichten uit Amsterdam. Meten & Wegen 186 (June 2019): 4439-41