August Soderling, a Swedish immigrant, was the assayer and manager of Theall and Co. in Austin, Nevada during the 1860s [Ref: Gariaeff, Nick, “August Soderling,” 2010]. A. Soderling was a well known assayer in Nevada mining camps, who later worked in such places as Bodie and Treasure Hill.
Mark Twain wrote an article titled, “Silver Bars – How Assayed” that appeared in the Territorial Enterprise in 1863 about the process of assaying and took a tour of Theall and Co. to gather information for his piece. He likened the process of heating rock full of silver or gold to that of the experience Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had in the furnace before God rescued them from the fire. Assaying was refinement of the holiest proportions, especially to miners.
Theall & Co’s Austin Assay Office had a succession of operators. Dawley was followed by John Ramdohr, then Eugene Riotte, then A. Soderling. In November, 1865, he sold the Austin office to Boalt & Stetefeldt.
1.04 oz A. Soderling mixed metal ingot, attributed to Virginia City, Nevada about 1870-1
A small oblong ingot, with hand stamping on face, OZ / 1.04 / GOLD / 063 / SILVER / 901 / FINE On left edge of bar is stamped A. SODERLING, while on right side in small letters, ASSAYER. Only one other ingot of Soderling is known, and it is also crudely made. Grades About Very Fine.
Little is known about Soderling as an assayer, but his name appears in directories during the 1860s and early 70s. It is believed that this attribution to Virginia City is based mostly on the fact that the two known ingots were found there. Directory information shows Soderling working at Virginia City in 1870 and 1871.
Pedigree, Henry H. Clifford Collection, by Bowers and Ruddy Galleries, March 18 1982.
[03/1982] https://archive.org/details/henryhcliffordco1982bowe/page/n105/
Nevada. Undated (ca. 1870-1871) A. Soderling Mixed Metal Ingot. Attributed to Virginia City. Nearly Very Fine. Small, essentially rectangular ingot of mixed metal, somewhat crudely made, and with all inscriptions effected by individual punches. On the face we read OZ / 1.04 / GOLD / 063 / SILVER / 901 / FINE. On the left edge of the bar is A. SODERLING. On the right edge of the bar is stamped ASSAYER. The back of the bar is blank. A. Soderling is listed in directories from the 1860’s to the early 1870’s. In 1870 and 1871, Soderling appears to have worked as an assayer in Virginia City, Nevada. His operation must have been fairly rough and ready, since he seems to have made no attempt to refine the gold out of the silver brought to him from the Comstock Lode. Extremely rare: only two A. Soderling bars are known, both of which were found in Virginia City, Nevada. In the last two decades, this is the only A. Soderling bar that has ever reached the general numismatic market.
[06/1997] https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/auctionlots?AucCoId=3&AuctionId=516717