Category: Mines & Mills
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Belcher Mine
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Read more: Belcher Mine2.62 oz Belcher Mine, Comstock Lode, Virginia City, 1876. Face Value: $4.34 This ingot is from the Belcher Mine, an exhibition ingot used at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, in which Nevada played an important role. It is the only such marked ingot surviving today, with the possible exception of uncataloged ingots in institutional collections.Nevada began…
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Ophir Mine
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Read more: Ophir MineThis ingot pair came from an estate in the Eastern United States, uncovered this year. We had originally planned on separating the pair, but after research, find the two are inseparable, clearly owned and collected by the same person, George F. Ford. The story of Ford involves his work with important mines on the Comstock,…
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Gould & Curry Silver Mining Company
Read more: Gould & Curry Silver Mining CompanyThe Gould & Curry Silver Mining Company’s heydays were the years 1863-64, just before statehood. Incorporated a few years earlier, the founder of the original claim in the Comstock was Albert Gould, who unwisely sold his share of half the mine for a pittance and died years later and nearly broke in Reno. The mine…
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Belmont S. M. Co
Read more: Belmont S. M. Co28.5 oz Belmont Silver Mining Company. Belmont, Nevada. Silver assay ingot, July 12, 1873. Face Value: $28.90 Overall appearance of Very Fine. A rough and rather crude looking ingot, medium silver gray in color, with unfinished surfaces. The company’s name and location is accomplished in logotype as is Ozs. but everything else inscribed on the…
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Maxon Mine
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Read more: Maxon Mine4.92 oz 1876 Silver Presentation Ingot. Amador City, California. Maxon Mine. .987 silver. $5.28. 55.4 mm x 17.9 mm x 13.7 mm. Choice Near Mint State.A beautifully accomplished anonymous presentation ingot from the Sierra Nevadas, less than 50 miles from the famed Sutter’s Mill. Top face is neatly engraved “Maxon / June 28th 1876” inside…
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M. D. Short & Co, Assayers
Read more: M. D. Short & Co, Assayers4.18 oz August 1865 M.D. Short & Co. silver Colorado Ingot. 130.0 grams. An irregularly shaped ingot engraved “FIRST PIECE OF SILVER OF ANY SIZE SMELTED IN COLORADO / ORE MINED, SILVER EXTRACTED IN SNAKE RIVER DISTRICT SUMMIT CO. / AUG. 1865 / BY M.D. SHORT & CO.” on four lines. An amazing piece of…
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Gertie O. Rugg
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Read more: Gertie O. RuggUnique Gertie O. Rugg Silver Presentation Ingot–Possibly the Only Ingot Known Today From the Belcher Mine Gertie O. Rugg 1876 Presentation Silver Ingot from the Belcher Mine, Virginia City, Nevada. Gertie Rugg was the daughter of Belcher Mine Chief Engineer J. Rugg, who had this ingot engraved with her name and date for a special…
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Theall & Co, Assayers
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Read more: Theall & Co, AssayersThe Theall Co. were classic Comstock era assayers, who branched out to many of the Nevada silver mining camps as news of their discoveries were announced to the public. H. W. Theall, born in New York in 1827, bought E. Justh’s assaying business in Marysville in 1859. At the time, his competition was the well…
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Yuba Mine, California
Read more: Yuba Mine, California4.1 oz California. Yuba Mine, Nevada County. Silver. 1897 Measuring 20.9 mm x 50.6 mm x 12.5 mm. Unmarked for weight and fineness. 127.6 grams, 4.10 troy ounces. A very simple ingot, with the top face (bottom of the pour) finely smoothed and polished, then carefully engraved “Yuba” in cursive with a smaller 1897 in…