INGOTS
CALIFORNIA
159. San Francisco. San Francisco. San Francisco Assay Office Medal. (pic-assay office)/ U.S./ Assay Office/ San Francisco/ California/ S// The Department of the Treasury/ (pic-coat of arms)/ 1789. Rd, br, gilt, 33mm, Au. Est. $20-40
COLORADO
Please see the Colorado section for the very rare solid silver railroad pass of 0.85 Troy ounces signed by financier Otto Mears from the Silverton Railroad. Since it is a thin piece of silver the size of a normal railroad pass, that was embossed rather than engraved, we did not list it in the ingot section, though some may consider it such.
NEVADA
160. Nevada. (Austin). Silver Ingot. Hettie Clute./ From/ Her Pa.Pa./ 1870. 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 1/2". The only Clute we could find in any western silver producing areas of America was Clute & Evans, a general mercantile firm in Austin, active about 1867-1870. But he, as well as two other Clutes active in western silver camps, were all gone by the time the 1870 census was completed, leaving us with a mystery. This ingot has had extensive research by our office for more than 4 months. While we were unable to specifically find his daughter Hettie in the 1870 census, we were not surprised, since many were missed. There were no other Clutes from this time period listed anywhere in the1867 Pacific Coast Directory, and the other Clute was active on the Comstock about 1864 then disappeared. Est. $1000-2000
161. Mineral. (Rawhide). Reagent. Nevada Silver Co. Ingot 999 Fine, 5.40 Ozs. Val. $6.96. "Silver 999 Fine" engraved on the reverse. Company logo (NEVADA/ (pic eagle)/ SILVER Co) stamped on front. 2" x 1" x 3/4". The Nevada Silver Co was incorporated in Nevada on January 18, 1919 by C. E. Crowley, H. K. Linger and Ed Winn (lawyers and a constable), all directors and officers located and living in Idaho Falls Idaho. Their resident agent in Nevada was W. H. Leonard in Rawhide, Nevada, whose office was listed as in Room 1 of the Post Office building in Rawhide. Rawhide was a screemingly active gold camp in west central Nevada that boomed late about 1908-9. After numerous mining company consolidations, the town quickly dropped in size, though the post office remained open until 1941, probably with only a resident or two hanging on until Uncle Sam figured out that the salary they paid the postmaster exceeded his deposits by a long shot. Leonard was credited with finding the Nevada Scheelite deposit in 1930, five miles west of Rawhide. It is difficult to speculate who was behind the Nevada Silver Co. promotion, but it may have been Leonard backed by the Idaho Falls lawyers, who may have been friends of Leonard's from earlier Rawhide days. The Nevada Silver Co's charter was revoked in March, 1932, probably as a result of Leonard's success at Nevada Scheelite. The Rawhide townsite is gone today, part of a huge open pit gold mine run by Kennecott. This ingot shows up from time to time in numismatic sales. We have seen it written up as coming from Virginia City, Lida, Goldfield, Tonopah and other places without factual reference such as provided here. [Danner, Gabbs Valley, Nevada, 1992; Nevada Corporation Records] Est. $600-1000
162. Storey. Virginia City. Stateler & Arrington, Bankers, 1864. This check no. 208 was issued to Conrad Wiegand for $200. Black print on white paper, 2 1/2 x 8, blue, 2 cent revenue stamp affixed to upper left. Rubber stamped S & A / Paid / Virginia. Extremely fine condition with one center punch hole. Conrad Weigand is a popular name among western assay ingot collectors. Numerous small ingots exist bearing his name from the Comstock. Weigand had been an assayer for the US Mint system, working at the mint in Philadelphia, US Assay Office in New York, then coming to San Francisco to work as an assayer there. His term in San Francisco was marked in turmoil.
In a letter from Robert Hevens, director of the US Mint in San Francisco, dated 2/28/1862, Hevens wrote to President Lincoln about Conrad Weigand and his attempts to discredit Hevens and other staff members at the SF Mint. Hevens said that Weigand was guilty of "extraordinary and unofficerlike conduct - indeed it was common report at the time that he was insane." Much of the trouble began with problems caused by shortages at the SF Mint in 1857 involving several accounts that resulted in law suits. Weigand in 1861 had been "sometimes violent, and noisily insubordinate, ...maneuvering, plotting and mischief making..." "On the tenth of July last, his conduct was so outrageous that I felt compelled to the disagreeable duty of addressing the head of this department. The Hon. Secretary Chase preparing charges and specifications, and asking his removal..." None of Weigand's letters were retained within the Lincoln file, but may exist elsewhere. This letter was the only one remaining discussing Weigand and his antics. [letter on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.].
From San Francisco he appears to have ventured to the Comstock where experienced assayers were much needed, and other assayers from the Mint had already defected. This check was written for work done by him for the Gould & Curry Silver MC in May, 1864, and is signed by Charles Bonner, the superintendent. It was issued just after the huge ore body had been found and the new mill built in Six Mile Canyon. His reputation as a whacko was basically forgotten until later years. He blew himself up in an explosion at Virginia City. Est. $75-150
163. Storey. Virginia. Yellow Jacket Mine Ingot. 4.62 Troy ounce silver ingot, engraved on two sides. 25mm x 40mm x 13mm thick. "May Margaret Fine, Carson City December 20, 1892./ From the 1100 level of the Yellow Jacket Mine." This is clearly a Christmas presentation piece. We spent considerable time trying to research this ingot. We looked at Virginia City newspapers for the week preceding this presentation as well as the week after. We did the same for Carson City and struck out both times. Since the 1890 census burned, there are no records extant for that period except business directories, none of which have any members of the Fine family listed. My best guess is that she was a teacher or student, given an award of silver from the Yellow Jacket mine, a somewhat common practice at the time, though few still exist today.
The Yellow Jacket, one of the best mines on the Comstock, produced about $18 million during its lifetime1863-1919 according to Couch & Carpenter (1943), and again was in production in the 1980's. Only $350,000 was produced on the Comstock in 1892. There are many stories of the Yellow Jacket. The worst mine fire on the Comstock occurred there in 1868. Please see Grant Smith's History of the Comstock as well as Elliott Lord's Comstock Mining & Miners for more information on this special mine located just over the divide into Gold Hill. Est $5,000-10,000
Paul Franklin Ingot Collection
Paul Franklin, a well known numismatist, was interested in precious metal ingots for decades. Starting in the 1940's, he would write the director of each US Assay Office and US Mint trying to get them to make a few 5 ounce ingots specially for his collection, and perhaps others for other collectors. Franklin kept all of his records of ingot inquiries and transactions. His correspondence was retained by his son, allowing us a unique glance into the mind of an early ingot collector. Though one or two directors might refuse his requests, he would persist with new personnel, keeping up the quest for about twenty years. His goal was to have one ingot from each Federal facility from each year or ingots with every different punch.
I first ran into Paul when he was cutting a deal with JJ Smelting (or Assay, I forget which) in the 1970's when I was a young geologist. As I learned about the melting and refining part of our business, I became interested in ingots. Then, as years grew into promotions and more responsible work, I began to become an active part of the gold and silver business, first helping on many pours after finding the ore, observing the milling process, then finally watching the second to last stage - pouring of the ingots. As I got older, involved with ever increasing bullion sales etc, the fascination never ceased.
Franklin and I were to remeet in an historical paper deal years later. Meanwhile he had acquired hundreds of ingots, and I had poured the same through the mining business with open pit mines at Gold Bar and the Flowery, among other smaller properties.
Each of the Federal silver ingots in this sale, and those that will appear in another of our future sales this year all are from the Paul Franklin Collection, and were all acquired by him directly from Uncle Sam. He is the sole person responsible for getting many of these made and out into the collector market. They were rare then, and remain so today. With the many changes in Federal law in regards to precious metal processing procedures at the mints, we may never see the likes of these small ingots again.
Attributes of these ingots have not been summarized to my knowledge. The bullion stamps and punches used at the different Federal facilities are not identical. We do not have a large enough data base from which to make a formal cataloging, but make general notes as follows (fh):
General pattern: Each punch pattern is in a circle of one inch diameter with a single line rim in the 1950-60 pieces and a double rim on the 1940's pieces. The outer circle on the older piece is 1 3/16" diameter. The punches are not consistently punched at the top or bottom of the ingot.
Eagle: The eagle of the 1950's-1960's ingots from both the Assay Offices and Mints all appear similar, but each is different. There was clear intent on the part of the die engravers to make similar eagles on the 1950's and 1960's ingots. This eagle faces left, with a shield in its chest. Within the shield are three stars at the top, and there are differing numbers of vertical lines forming the lower part of the shield in each of the die punches we have seen. The eagles are all clutching clusters of three arrows per talon, but again the arrows differ slightly in each punch. The eagle on the 1940's ingots is remarkably different, with a much broader bird with downward pointing wing tips, instead of the upward patterns of the later eagles. Both of these eagles were used on different ingots from Philadelphia in 1946. There is also an eagle in an elliptical pattern on many ingots. I have seen these written up in many catalogs as being pre-1900. I cannot verify this, nor could Franklin. One of these elliptical eagle pattern punches on a silver ingot is present in this sale. I only know that they pre-date the 1940's pieces. I have been unable to find more information, but hope to unravel this mystery some day. I have a plan of attack, but it takes time and money, bothj things unfortunately in short supply.
Office and City designation: On all of the ingots over this 30 year span we see the same attributes: City in an arc across the bottom of the circle, and the office across the top of the circle.
Date: Dates for the ingots vary. They generally appear below the office designation, but on the 1940's piece are punched separately on the obverse and reverse of the ingots from the Philadelphia Mint. We saw this as well on some San Francisco pieces not in this sale. Many of the original date and number punches from the San Francisco Mint are now in the collection of the SS Central America museum display. I purchased these several years ago from a San Francisco dealer.
Special thanks to Paul Franklin for allowing me the privilege of reviewing his father's ingot correspondence. It was truly a pleasure.
164. New York Assay Office Silver Ingot. Stamped "14.91 OZ, 999 F, U.S. Assay Office, 1964, (pic-bald eagle), New York." 2.25" x 1.75" x .75". Est. $500-1000
165. Philadelphia Mint Silver Ingot. Stamped "1946, Fine, 999., No. 152, OZS 29.04, U.S. Mint, (pic-bald eagle), Philadelphia." Also stamped "10" on top side. Rectangular, rounded side corners. 4" x 1.5" x .75". Est. $750-1500
166. Philadelphia Mint Silver Ingot. Stamped with "U.S. Mint, (pic-bald eagle), Phila, No.42, OZS 5.79." "1946, Fine, 999." on reverse. 2.5" x 1.25" x .25". Rounded corners. Est. $300-700
167. San Francisco Mint Silver Ingot. Stamped "Unit of the United States, (Pic-bald eagle), At San Francisco, 1379 (below stamp), 19.12 OZS, 999.75 Fine." 3.5" x 1.75" x .5". Est. $500-1000
168. San Francisco Mint Silver Ingot. Stamped with "U.S. Mint, 1959, (Pic-Bald eagle), San Francisco, 5.58 OZS, 999.5 FINE." and bald eagle with shield in center. 2" x 1.25" x .75". Rounded corners. Est. $300-700
OTHER INGOTS & INGOT RELATED ITEMS
169. Ingots. Silver. Hentsch & Berton Checks, 1869. Lot of 2 different checks. One of the checks is datelined Mok (Mokelume) Hill, 1869. The check is on blue paper with a vignette at left edge of a steam train running down the tracks. Issued to J. J. Horn and signed by A. H. Herchner. Check was printed by Edward Boqui, SF. The second check is datelined San Francisco, 1869. This check is on crème paper and has no vignette. 2 cent revenue stamp affixed at upper left. Both checks are punched. Very fine. Est. $200-400
170. Ingots. Silver. L.C. Murray Silver Ingot. 999 Fine. 3 Troy Oz., Certified L.C. Murray. 3/4" x 1 3/4" x 1/2". While this ingot appears modern, we have no specific information on it. We did find an L. C. Murray writing papers for the USGS in the 1960's and 1970's that involved mining in the southeast, but we don't know if it is the same guy. Est. $100-300
171. Ingots. Silver. Silver Eagle Commemorative Silver Coin/Ingot Set, 1969. Lot of 6 different pcs. There are 6 different styles of coins and ingots represented in this set that are in the original velvet lined case. The box top has "Silver Eagles Nest" in silver letters. Each one is a different quantity and denomination. The denominations are: Quarter Silver Eagle, One Half Silver Eagle, One Silver Eagle, Two and One Half Silver Eagles, Five Silver eagles and 10 Silver Eagles. All are marked 1969 and 999 Silver. All of the pieces have an image of an eagle on the obverse. They are designed to imitate the $50 gold slug and other large pioneer-style coins. The total weight of the pieces is 19.25 ounces. There is tarnish on every coin in the form of fingerprints to minor surface scratches. Unc. Est. $300-500
172. Ingots. Silver. Silver Ingot. 5 OZ./ Fine 890/ Val $5.75/ J.K.M. 3/4" x 2" x 1/2". This ingot is probably pre-1900, but we were unable to locate significant information on the owner, "J.K.M." It is probably from one of the many western silver mining regions. Est. $500-1000
TWO EARLY GOLD INGOTS
The two gold ingots that follow might represent classic ingots to some, but to a mining expert they are an anomaly. The two pieces came originally with small jewelers loops on one end for attachment on a bracelet or necklace. One has been removed. I have no question at all about their authenticity. In fact, I think they can be placed as made from the 1850's to about 1880, but most likely are from the 1850-1875 period, and are probably made from or for a California miner's family from the gold they produced in California and are marked "Cal Gold" accordingly, clearly an attribute they were proud of. I did the very same with my own wedding ring, using gold I had mined on the Trinity river as a young man in 1971. When I first looked at these ingots, they presented many questions, the most obtrusive of which to me was the wrong weighing system and the complete lack of the use of numeric punches, replaced by Roman numerals. But the mystery is easily unraveled with analysis of the assaying and jewelry business. The ingots were made by a jeweler without numeric punches. He used his jewelry scales that weigh in pennyweights, instead of the industry standard Troy ounces.
At a recent appraisal clinic, I showed them to a well seasoned jewelry expert asking if she could tell me what was wrong with the ingots and why. I didn't expect the correct answer so fast. She immediately recognized the weighing system belonging to a jeweler instead of weights used by those in the mining business. I was amazed at the rapidity of recognition from twenty plus years of experience, having worked for most of the major auction houses in America, and shared more stories with her about ingots. This is an important discussion, because it opens our eyes to the very many possibilities of how and why ingots were made - not just by assayers using specific methodology, but also by jewelers and others, including some made solely as presentation pieces.
173. California. Gold Ingot. CAL GOLD/ XXI KT// XII/ DWTS DOLS; loop for suspension at one end. 0.60 Troy ounces. 33mm x 10mm x 3mm thick. $1500-3000
174. California. Gold Ingot. FIFTEEN DWT/ CAL GOLD// EIGHTEEN KT/ NINE DOL/ THIRTY CT; loop for suspension at one end removed. 0.72 Troy ounces. 32mm x 13mm x 3mm thick. $1500-3000
