1879 4.75 oz $47.5 Mixed Metal Ingot from Bulwer Mine, Montana
Bulwer Mine: Souvenir Silver and Gold Ingot with a Storied Past
2.25″ x .75″ x .5″ [56mm x 18mm x 14mm] solid silver/gold ingot. It is inscribed on the top: “Bulwer Mine 4 3/4 Ounces Value $47.50”. The front & back sloping sides are inscribed: “Presented by/ Mr. John F. Boyd./ to/ Mrs. Philipp [sic] Deidesheimer/ April 1879” and “Result of working 400 pounds Ore/ unassorted, taken from 1000 tons/ now being worked at Bodie Mill.” The bottom and end panels are unmarked.
The value of $47.50 for this weight indicates a high presence of gold in the alloy. An x-ray fluorescence test indicates a purity of around 44.5% gold and 54.3% silver, with traces of copper and lead. With around two ounces of gold and a market price in 1879 of $20.67 per ounce, the value assigned by the producer is in line with the metal mixture. Many of the lodes in Northern California produced heavy mixtures of gold and silver, which were refined further by assayers.
Philip Deidesheimer (1832-1906) was a German-born mining engineer who emigrated to the United States in 1852. He worked the California gold fields for several years before being hired as a technical advisor by W. F. Babcock, a trustee of the Ophir Mine, part of the Comstock Lode in Nevada. While there, he invented a system of tunnel supports which came to be known as “square set timbering”. He refused to patent the invention. He was promoted to mine superintendent of the Ophir Mine in 1875, but speculated in mining stocks and declared bankruptcy in 1878. He continued to design and supervise mine construction at the Hope Mill in Montana and at the Young America Mine in Sierra City, California. His 20% stake in that mine made him a rich man. The Bulwer Mine was located in Jefferson County, Montana. Bodie, California was a gold & silver boom town in the 1877-1882 period and is a historic site. Deidesheimer’s invention was the basis for a 1959 episode of the television show “Bonanza” titled, appropriately, “The Philip Deidesheimer Story”. John Beal portrayed the title character.
We have seen similar souvenir ingots sold at auction. All are rare and highly coveted but, given the story behind it and the extensive engraved inscription, this may be the best one known.
[4/25/2025] https://historical.ha.com/itm/western-expansion/goldrush/bulwer-mine-souvenir-silver-and-gold-ingot-with-a-storied-past/a/6318-43218.s ($71,875)