Stocks

Stock1. Once In A Lifetime Collection of Rare Oil Company Stocks

This fine collection of rare oil company stocks will be sold as a single lot. Please contact us if you would like more information about this collection. $3,500 Sold

Stock2. Aurora, Nevada. Stock certificate for the Monitor Gold and Silver Mining Company

Aurora, Nevada. Stock certificate for the Monitor Gold and Silver Mining Company dated August 11, 1863, issued to John W. Martin for twelve shares and signed by Martin as president and C. H. Arnold as secretary. Printed by Towne & Bacon Printers, S. F. Vignette of the Union ironclad ship “Monitor” at top center. Green underprint. Uncancelled. Certificate number 12. Endorsed by Martin on the reverse to R. G. Lundom.
This certificate is for one of the three mines that Sam Clemens actually thought he struck it rick. The mine was located on Middle Hill at Aurora. Clemens and his friends Higbie, Twing, LaRue formed the Clemens Gold and Silver Mining Co. in 1862 to work 800 feet of the Monitor lode. They incorporated in February, 1863, and apparently only lasted a few months. On May 11, 1862, Clemens wrote his brother Orion from Aurora: “I own one-eighth of the Monitor ledge, Clemens Company, and money cant buy a foot of it, because I know it to contain our fortune. The ledge is six feet wide and no one needs no glass to see gold and silver in it…”
On May 12th, he continued: “I have fully determined that the Monitor which is probably worth twenty five Allen claims, shall be divided into twain someday, because 800 feet is too much to have in one company…  if all spare change be devoted to working the Monitor and Flyaway, 12 months, or 24 at furthest, will find our earthly wishes satisfied, so far as money is concerned, and the more feet we have, the more anxiety we must bear, therefore why not say “No –d-n your prospects, I wait on a sure thing, and a man is less than a man, if he cant wait 2 years for a fortune?” When you and I came out here we did not expect ’63 or ’64 to find us rich men, and if that proposition had been made, we would have accepted it gladly. Now it is made… I shall work the Monitor with my own hands. I prospected ¾ of a pound of “M” yesterday and Raish reduced it with a blowpipe, and got about ten or twelve cents in gold and silver, besides the other half of it which we split on the floor and didn’t get. … The specimen came from the croppings, but was a choice one, and showed much free gold to the naked eye. The rock is exactly like the Antelope, and the ledge is the same width. I hope it may prove as rich.”
                On May 17th, however, Clemens wrote his brother Orion again: “Two or three of the old Salina company entered our hole on the Monitor yesterday morning, before our men got there, and took possession, armed with revolvers. And according to the d-d laws of this forever d-d country, nothing but the District Court (and there aint any) can tough the matter unless it assumes the shape of an infernal humbug which they call forcible entry and detainer., and in order to bring that about, you must compel the jumpers to use personal violence toward you! We went up and demanded possession, and they refused. Said they were in the hole, armed, and meant to die in it, if necessary. I got in it with them and again demanded possession. They said I might stay in as long as I pleased and work, but they would do the same.”  The Clemens claim on the Monitor was eventually restored in general, according to letters written a few days later. By July, Clemens wanted to sink a 100 foot shaft, but was out of money.
                The Monitor fought a battle in March, 1862 with the Confederate ironclad Virginia (Merrimack). The news swept the nation, even to the remote corners of Nevada.
                This certificate is one of only a few for a mine that was so intensely discussed by Clemens in his Letters (see Volume 1, 1853-1866). It appears Clemens and company sold all or part interest to Martin by summer of 1863. This is quite possibly the only known certificate from the Monitor. $3,150.

Stock3. Stock Certificate issued to, signed by, and endorsed by famous western lawman, Pat Garrett, who was known for shooting and killing the notorious outlaw, Billy the Kid!

This incredible certificate is from the Alabama Gold & Copper Mining Company in the mining district of Oro Grande. This mining company was located in Jarilla and incorporated under the laws of the Territory New Mexico in 1899, where Pat Garret made a name for himself during the historic Lincoln County War. The Alabama Gold & Copper Mining Company owned the Alabama mine that was taken over by independent owners in 1905.  This is certificate #5, issued to P.F. Garrett for 200 shares. This fabulous certificate is signed by P.F. Garrett, Secretary and J.M. Llewelyn, President. It is not cancelled. It has a black border with green safety print and a gold foil seal. There are two revenue stamps affixed at the upper right corner. It is also endorsed on the reverse by P.F. Garrett, the third place where his name appears, and the second personalized signature on this rare document.  

Patrick Floyd Jarvis Garrett is known as the man who killed Billy the Kid in 1881. He was born in Alabama but grew up on a prosperous plantation in Louisiana. He started his long career as a western frontiersman hunting buffalo and working as a cowpuncher before opening his own saloon in New Mexico.  In 1880 Garrett was appointed as Sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico and was given the task of tracking down and arresting the notorious murderer, Henry McCarty, better known as William Bonney or “Billy the Kid.”  Ironically, Garret and the “Kid” had once been friends during Garrett’s days as a saloon proprietor.  Garrett did agree, however, to track down the elusive fugitive who had escaped from jail two different times. He finally caught up with him at Pete Maxwell’s house, near Stinking Springs.  Garrett surprised William Bonney in the dark and shot him in the heart at point blank range. Instead of being considered a hero, he was seen as a villain and betrayer for taking down the infamous, but beloved “Kid,” who was once his friend. Garrett lost his bid for reelection as Sheriff of Lincoln County and also lost a bid for Senator of New Mexico in 1884. Completely dismayed and disheartened he moved to Texas where he served as a captain in the Texas Rangers.  He later returned to New Mexico, but then President Roosevelt appointed him to the position of Collector of Customs in El Paso, Texas. Unfortunately, Garrett was proving himself to be the most unlucky man in the Southwest. He struck up a friendship with a known criminal, Tom Powers, ignoring the advice of his friends and peers. He invited Powers to attend a reunion of Roosevelt’s old combat unit, which embarrassed the President. Needless to say, Roosevelt did not reappoint Garrett to the Customs position. Dejected, Garrett returned once again to New Mexico.  In 1908, broke and depressed, Garrett was murdered on the side of the road while urinating. The shooter was acquitted on the basis of self-defense.  The true identity of Garrett’s killer is still debated today.

Stock4. The State of California, California Eastern Extension Rail Road Company Bond, dated October 1, 1859.

This great document reads as follows:

The California Eastern Extension Rail Road Company acknowledge themselves to owe to A. Boody of the City of New York in the State of New York, and James Lawrence English of Sacramento in the County of Sacramento in the State of California, or bearer, one thousand dollars, for money borrowed to aid in the construction of their rail road, from a point on the California Central Rail-Road near to Auburn Peavine, on said road, eastwardly to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, in the County of Placer, in the State of California, which sum the said Company promise to pay the said A. Boody and James Lawrence English or the holder thereof, at the Metropolitan Bank, in the City of New York, on the first day of October, 1879, and also interest thereon at the rate of ten percent per annum, payable semi-annually on the first day of January and July of each year on the presentation of the annexed interest once, at said bank for each year, ensuing the date hereof, until the said principal sum shall be paid. And said Company further agreed, that this obligation and all the rights and benefits arising therefrom, may be transferred by general or special endorsement, or by delivery, as if the same were a note of hand payable to bearer.  In witness whereof, the said Company have accused their corporate seal to be hereto affixed, and these presents to be subscribed by their President and Secretary, this first day of October, 1859.

Not much is known of this obscure rail line. There is no mention in Bancroft’s History of California. Apparently the State of California was partially financing the rail through their treasurer James Lawrence English and New York railroad financier A. (Azariah) Boody. The plan for the rail line was well founded. Auburn Ravine was a central point in the gold region in the hills above (east) of Sacramento.  Collectors know of this general area because one of the mining camps here is Forrest Hill, the originating site of the massive Kellogg & Humbert assay receipt group that surfaced several years ago, and one of the areas that fed gold into Kellogg & Humbert for the famous gold ingots recovered from the SS Central America treasure of 1857. The California Eastern was to have joined with the California Central Railroad at a point near Auburn. It probably was designed to access more gold camps further in the interior.
                The California Central RR was incorporated in 1857, but was not built to useable form until 1861. It was a short rail line, with only 18 miles of track from Lincoln to Folsom. In all likelihood, that line was supposed to be built to Auburn, just fifteen miles east of Lincoln. Since it was not completed on time, it is highly likely that funding for the California Eastern Extension was pulled, and thus never built. Additionally, with the onset of the Civil War, funding for any speculative rail venture in the West would take a back seat to war concerns.

The top portion of this document measures 14” X 9 ½” and has black print on crème paper with orange under print of “1000” and orange safety print.  There is an embossed circular seal on the bottom right. It is signed by J.L. Frank, Secretary and Edward McLean, President.  It is numbered 60. This document is lithographed by Britton & Co. of San Francisco. There are several vignettes; one of a mountain and river scene of a railroad being constructed at top center, one of two figures at the right- a man with a shovel and pick and an allegorical female in a sailor suit, an eagle preparing for flight at left, the bust of George Washington as it appears on currency at the bottom left, and the profile bust of Benjamin Franklin at the bottom right.  The bottom part of the document has 39 small,  3” X 1 ½” payment coupons, individually numbered  in orange under print and signed by J. L. Frank, Secretary. The first coupon, numbered 2, has been removed from the bottom right corner.

Stock5. The Alavieska Mining Company.

$250

Stock6. Solid Silver Gold & Silver Mining Co

$400

Stock7. The South Pacific Mining Company

$200

Stock9. Manhattan Virginia Gold Mining Company

Stock15. Josephine Gold and Silver Mining Co. Stock

Stock16. Linkville Water Ditch Company Stock

Linkville Water Ditch Company Stock, Linkville, Lake County, Oregon, April 9, 1881 $400

Stock17. Canadian Stock Collection

$1120 for the collection Hold-call for current status

Stock18: William Keith illustrated stock certificate, 1863

Cinco Senores Gold and Silver Mining Co Jacob Schreiber H. B. Churchill Copala Sinaloa Mexico

I have been secretly looking for a stock with a vignette signed by the great American and western landscape artist William Keith for decades. We’ve been through and sold the Filer Collection, the Miles Collection, parts of the Buford Collection, the San Francisco broker collection, and not until now have I ever found one.

Keith was one of the original California artists of the 1860’s, always mentioned in the same breath as Bierstadt and others. “The landscape tradition began to dominate California painting in the 1860’s with the visits of such painters as Thomas Hill, William Keith and Albert Bierstadt … whose paintings of the wilderness became the new icons of California” wrote Janice Driesbach et al in The Art of the Gold Rush (1998).

Keith was born in Scotland in 1838 and came to New York in 1850, where he began an apprenticeship as an engraver, perhaps in the house of Durand or one of the other great artistic engraving firms.  After a brief stint in London in 1858, the lure of the west caught his fancy, along with more than 100,000 others, and he moved to San Francisco in 1859 where he started his own engraving company. In 1862 he teamed up with Harrison Eastman (Eastman was the senior partner), and the two produced a series of illustrations for California Magazine and Mountaineer. Their specialty, according to the San Francisco Directory of 1862 was wood engravings from their studio on the south east corner of California and Montgomery right in the heart of the financial district. In 1863 he began painting with oils, at first studying with Samuel Brooks, a portrait and still life painter. He admired the great western landscape artists, and in 1868 Keith completely converted to an oils artist. He went to Europe briefly for more training, returning to San Francisco in 1872, when he met John Muir. Muir showed him all the backwoods of Yosemite, and Keith was smitten with the place.

His skill was so great that decades later Keith was considered “The Dean of California Artists” and the California’s Old Master” according to Vincent et al in O California! (1990). Keith was a member of San Francisco’s Bohemian Club, and a number of his key paintings are still on display there.

This particular stock certificate is for the Cinco Senores Gold and Silver Mining Co. of Copala, Sinaloa, Mexico. The company was incorporated in 1863 in San Francisco, and as such was part of the 1863 mining stock promotion boom. It was issued to Jacob Schreiber for one share (at $200 each), signed by H. B. Churchill as president and J. Armstrong as secretary (a professional mining secretary). Jacob Schreiber is listed in the 1863 San Francisco Directory with a residence, but no occupation shown. Churchill is unlisted in 1863 or 1864, indicating that Churchill may have been selling stock from a different location, perhaps from the mine office in Mexico.

The certificate’s vignette by Keith is different from others. It has Eastman’s name at the left, and Keith’s at the right. In the center are prospectors in a tent camp overlooking a valley, with miners pushing an ore cart in tree-lined hills on the right. The certificate was printed by Valentine & Co. of San Francisco. It has light foxing on the top edge and a few spots here and there, but is otherwise in very fine condition. I consider this one of the great rarities.

1. Keith avoided canvassing by the San Francisco Directories and does not show up until 1862 as a partner with Eastman& Co. He also avoided the canvassers in New York. He is not listed in Rode’s 1854-1855 New York Directory.

2. Much of this is extracted from From Exploration to Conservation: Picturing the Sierra Nevada (1998). No editor is given credit.

Inventory ID: 39140 - $3,250.00