Georgetown,CO – Clear Creek County – 1882 – Jo Mine, Reynolds & Gilbert Silver Ingot
Presentation Ingot. Botton reads: From the JO Mine / Georgetown Colorado / Reynolds & Gilbert Proprietors / 1882; Measures 2.25″ X .75″ X 1.5″.
The Jo Mine was located on Red Elephant Mountain, six miles northeast of Georgetown, and about 8 miles from Idaho Springs. The Young America silver lode was the first discovery in the late 1860’s which led to other prospectors finding more ore. D. E. Dulany found rich silver float and staked a new claim, the Free America. He sold to General J. I. Gilbert and W.H. Moore for $25,000, and Moore soon sold to Joseph Reynolds of Chicago. These ultimately became known as the Joe Reynolds Mines. This silver ingot appears to be the celebratory product of the first of the mines.
Joseph Reynolds was a powerful admiralty lawyer in Chicago. He became known as “Diamond Jo” Reynolds, hence the diamond shape around the name “Jo” on the ingot. He owned a line of steamers on the Mississippi that ran from St Louis to St. Paul. His partner in the mining venture was General James I. Gilbert from Iowa. Gilbert was a successful well decorated Civil War veteran who served for the 27th Iowa. (Encyclopedia of American Biography, p 94; ancestry.com)
The Jo Mine was one of a group of mines known as the Joe Reynolds mines, all contained within four claims, some of which were on Silver Creek. The mines comprised part of the Montana Mining District. They were located in 1880 and patented shortly afterward, though significant discoveries were not made until 1882, when the superintendant James Dailey found a 20 inch vein of extremely rich silver ore. They were in fairly constant production during the early 1880’s, and in 1882 were producing eighteen tons a month of high grade silver ore. By the end of 1882, Burchard reported that the mines had produced in excess of $340,000 in silver. (Burchard, 1882, pp428-9; Burchard 1883, pp262-3; Corregan & Lingane, 1883, p145). The company office was in Georgetown, and the financial office in Chicago, where Reynolds was from.
This unique silver ingot is a trapezoidal shape, typical of many from the 1880’s.
[10/2010] https://www.icollector.com/Georgetown-CO-Clear-Creek-County-1882-Jo-Mine-Reynolds-Gilbert-Silver-Ingot-Discovery-Ing_i9799462 ($13,200)