ECUADOR, 13-15th century gold alloy nose ring
$175.00
ECUADOR, CARCHI province, PURUHA-INCA culture complex, nose ring, 13-15th centuries, large, thin circle, tumbaga (gold-copper-alloy), 82x74mm, 12.09g, big chip missing
Out of stock
Description
They were really fond of nose rings back then.
In that part of South America they mixed a lot of copper with their gold, which they used for jewelry, not money. In other contexts we would call the alloy “base gold,” but in this context it is called “tumbaga.”
Over the decades I’ve been selling collectibles my market has been about 97% coins, 2% paper money, 1% everything else.
