19th Century Ingot Census: Assayers, Mines, People, and Places – Rare Ingot

Throughout the 19th century (aka 1800’s), various Assayers and ingot makers emerged – some came about as a need to provide a functional form of circulating money, while others were simply tied to ingots in some way to commemorate a mine, a place, an event, or even celebrate a person.

They came from all walks of life and from many regions – settling in some of the most prolific areas of deposit for silver and gold.

Assayers, Mines, People, and States

Ingots bring with them a fascinating glimpse into a bygone era – a time when local specie was scarce and even in some cases before some states were still a territory. Following is a list of those Assayers and primary regions where they operated:

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19th Century Ingot Population

Following is a count representing the number of “known” bars in each group including comparisons between US Mint Government Issue ingots (San Francisco, New York, Philadelphia etc) versus S.S. Central America Ingots, versus the known population of 19th century ingots.

When stacking each types it becomes much more clear – US Mint ingots are much more abundant than S.S. Central America ingots which are more abundant than 19th Century ingots overall (not including SSCA). Furthermore, the estimates for US Mint ingots are likely rather low as there are many more to be discovered. This graph highlights the drastic scarcity of such pieces and why they should be at the pinnacle of any ingot collector’s treasury besides appreciating their individual historic significance, beauty in craftsmanship, and uniqueness.

U.S. Mint and Private Assayers

There is perhaps no better way to directly show how directly tied all the relationships were between companies and assayers and parts of the US mint than to depict a small portion of those in an infographic.

In yellow: Assayers associated with S.S. Central America;
In dark blue: US Mint or Government
In black : 19th century assayers
In light blue: Other companies, Mines, and individuals

If you’re a collector of Pioneer Gold, you’ll instantly recognize a few names: Wass Molitor & Co, Moffat & Co, Kellogg & Humbert.

If you’re a shipwreck connoisseur, other names will jump out: Justh & Hunter, Harris & Marchand, and Kellogg & Humbert.

All of these names have a deeper, richer back-story against the backdrop of other assayers and private companies at the time.

This picture brings the names to life in a new way. When viewed in context of relationships, one starts to better understand magnitude, the importance, and great significance of these private assayers: how they fit into the bigger picture of pioneer gold, coinage, and early US money.

They all connect! These ingots are not islands – they are joined through needs of local commerce, purpose, and interwoven relationships.

Got Ingots?

Are you aware of a rare ingot that we haven’t yet featured or would you like to place a special request on adding a specific Assayer to the list? Don’t hesitate to reach out! This website is a work in progress and we are constantly adding more information on various Assayers, Makers, Regions, and specific Ingots.

Better yet, if you own an ingot that hasn’t been featured anywhere publicly but would like to send us information about it, we’d love to hear from you!

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Do You Have a Want List?

If there are specific ingots you might be looking for, there’s a chance we might be able to help. If you give us an idea of what you’re in search of we’ll do our best to put your name in our wish-list database in order to help match it up with potential bars that fit your appetite. It’s always so tough to let the good bars go!

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Parting Words

In the spirit of the 19th century ingots, we leave you with a short poem:

In vaults deep, where shadows linger, Lies treasure wrought by craftsman’s finger. Rare ingots, gleaming with ancient lore, Whisper tales from days of yore.

In veins of earth, they slept unseen, Forged by time, in darkness keen. Each a gem of molten gold, In silent splendor, tales untold.

The ephemeral now enduring.

From mines afar, they journeyed long, To find a place where they belong. In assayers hands, they found their worth, A testament to the riches of earth.

Oh, rare ingots, in silence rest, In precious dreams, forever blessed. To 19th-century punches, we raise our voice, In homage to treasures, rare and choice.