Atahuallpa told Pizarro he would give as his ransom 10 thousand gold ingots and silver vessels enough to fill a large room. The dimensions of the room are relatively consistent. Jerez suggest 22 by 17 feet, Mena, 25 by 15, Hernando Pizarro, 30 by 35 and Ruiz de Arce, 20 by 15. Gold was to be stacked to a height of a little more than eight feet. The ransom stipulated one room of gold and two of silver. Cieza writes that the "Spaniards thought such a great promise insane because it seemed to them impossible to fill."

So, Atahuallpa sent out his messengers to announce that the Spanish had been granted freedom to travel across his empire and were to be given the gold they desired. And Pizarro's henchmen soon followed, traveling deep into the heart of the Inca empire for the first time.

The ransom was a devastating cultural loss, for — along with textiles — gold was one of the chief media used by Inca artists. It took a month for Pizarro's men to melt it down, and, although a few choice pieces were sent back to Spain, remarkably few of these items survive today.