MAUD E. LORD-DRAKE Leadville, Colorado Maud Drake, nee Lord, was not an assayer, refiner, or engraver. She was a noted American medium and spiritualist of the late 19th century, active in New York City, Boston, and Leadville. The bar to follow has been listed under her name since it does not bear the name of its maker.
Maud Lord was born in 1852 in Marion County, West Virginia. Her biographical sketch composed for Hartmann’s Who’s Who in Occultism…(1927) describes her as “Active working medium for 65 years; full-form visible materializations in daylight; independent music from guitar carried around the room near the ceiling by spirit musicians; independent voices and singing; inspirational lectures and tests, and prophecies; Clairvoyant, Clairaudient and Psychometrist. Gave two readings to Queen Victoria in Buckingham Palace. At
the age of 24, spirits christened her the ‘Daughter of the Orient’ because her marvelous endowments were equal to the psychic powers possessed by the medium at the Temple of Delphi 4,000 years ago. John Slater recently said, `In her day, Maud was Queen of them all. Her name alone was sufficient to pack the largest building anywhere.’”
Mrs. Lord-Drake, a friend to Madame Helena Blavatsky and Colonel H.S. Olcott in whose rooms known as “The Lamasery” she conducted seances, disappeared from Boston on May 1, 1879 while on her way to Brockton, Massachusetts by train to hold a spirit gathering. Her sudden and unexpected absence raised alarms leading to police investigations and newspaper speculations, all of which only added to the mystery surrounding one who could speak to the dead. Two years later, Mrs. Lord-Drake was actively pursuing the Other World in Leadville, Colorado, where this ingot honoring her departure was made. She shared the Leadville public’s attention with Baby Doe, later of wider Matchless Mine fame. On Lord-Drake’s return east she resumed her career but this was not to last long before it received the sort of scrutiny she must have found unwelcome.
In 1885 she was investigated by the Seybert Commission, established by the University of Pennsylvania to look into claims of spiritualism following a bequest by Henry Seybert. Descriptions of the seances held by Lord-Drake under somewhat controlled conditions in February of that year were published by the Commission in 1887 and led to some public skepticism of her claims. In 1891 Lord-Drake claimed she had helped set up Stanford University by suggesting that Leland Stanford’s dead son told his parents in one of her seances that he wanted a university founded in his name. In 1892 Mr. & Mrs. Leland Stanford publicly stated that they had decided to found the university nearly six months before they had first met Mrs. Lord-Drake and had their first seance with her. The Stanfords also stated that in their opinion Lord-Drake had been exposed as a fraud in 1892.
To vindicate herself, Lord-Drake published her memoirs in 1904 but the heyday of American spiritualism had passed and with it, her fame. She died in 1924.
The ingot to follow appears to have been made for her by her disciples in Leadville, Colorado. Uniquely among the other Ford Collection bars it states its content as 1000 Fine silver.
This is the best made, most ornate and best designed of all of 19th century presentation ingots, shy of the 500 oz Chicago piece with the mountain scene which is in a class of its own and not feasible to collect due to its size.
32 oz Maude E. Lord-Drake. Leadville, Colorado. Silver assay ingot, September 22, 1881.
Overall appearance of Choice About Uncirculated. Essentially as made but irregularly toned in pale and darker silver gray. Judging by the inscription, the bar was probably given a bright silver wash when made that has since worn mostly away. A very well formed ingot with sharp edges and corners, planed and polished faces, and hand engraving that captures the style and feeling of a mountain mining town of the period. A unique ingot, presented to Mrs. Lord-Drake probably at the time of her departure back east. The inscriptions express a sweet sentiment one hopes was both reciprocated and appreciated.
- Face: LOVE AND TRUTH / PRESENTED TO / MAUD E LORD, / BY HER MANY FRIENDS / OF / LEADVILLE, COLORADO / SEPT.22d, 1881. [flanked by ovals left and right showing a miner with pick or shovel, all within an ornate border].
- Back: Dearest Sister / We present to you this small memento / Of pure unalloyed silver from / Its native mountain home, / as emblematical in its whiteness / Of the purity of your heart, and / Refined in its material as are / The principles you have taught us.
- Top side: God bless and protect you and / The principles you advocate, is the / Prayer of your Leadville friends.
- Bottom side: [a view of the mountains around Leadville].
- Left side: Weight / 32 oz. 20 dwts / 1000 Fine.
- Right side: Engraved by / Paul Lyon / With Dan G. Golding [inserted between last and next] / Leadville Colo.
- Dimensions: 95.5 x 47.5 x 22.7 mm.
- Stated weight: 32 ozs., 20 dwt.
From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection
Provenance: Ex Stack’s sale of October 22, 1982, lot 1620.
[10/2007] https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-AV6NF/maude-e-lord-drake-leadville-colorado-silver-assay-ingot-september-22-1881 ($37,375)
[10/2010] https://www.icollector.com/Leadville-CO-Lake-County-9-22-1881-Drake-Lord-Silver-Ingot_i9799481 ($51,600)
A truly impressive and historical Colorado ingot, the largest face – which seems to be the bottom of the ingot is inscribed: Love And Truth / Presented to / Maud E Lord / By Her many Friends / OF / Leadville Colorado / Sept 22d 1881. Flanking these inscriptions are two finely engraved images of hard-rock miners with shovel and pickaxe.
The opposite side, which serves as the “top” of the ingot bears the following inscription in fine script: Dearest Sister / We present to you this small memento / Of pure unalloyed silver from / its native mountain home, / As emblematical in its whiteness / Of the purity of your heart, and / Refined in its material as are / the principles you have taught us. On this side, as on all the others, the inscriptions or images are bordered by ornamental borders.
On one of the longer sides is engraved: God bless and protect you and / The principles you advocate, is the / Prayer of your Leadville Friends. Opposite this is an anepigraphic scene of forested mountains and plains. One of the two shorter sides is inscribed Engraved by / Paul Lyon With Dan G Golding / Leadville, Colo. The final shorter side is inscribed with the weight and fineness of the piece: Weight / 32 oz 20 dwts / 1000 Fine.
Regarded as the finest historical ingot known from Colorado, this magnificent piece is in exemplary condition and was presented to a fascinating individual–Maud Drake, a medium who conducted meetings of the occult. She was a well-known public figure who hosted numerous events in meeting halls around the West, performing a variety of theatrical displays. Her long and storied past has been written about by contemporary critics and present-day historians alike.
Provenance: Ex: John J. Ford, Jr. Collection.
[08/2017] https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-7WJAI/1881-leadville-colorado-silver-ingot-presented-to-maud-lord-drake-95-x-47-x-23-mm-32-oz-20dwtschoice-about-uncirculated (Passed)
1887 Maude Presentation Silver Ingot
Small presentation ingot that resembles the font and script style of the era and also some similarities with the Maud E. Lord ingot from Colorado above. Notably there are a few characteristic differences as well – in either case until further information comes to light, we can’t entirely rule it in or out as to whether these two are tied in some way. It is worth noting that Maud and Maude were used interchangeably at times with alternate spellings referring to the same person.
With no known public auction appearances, this ingot surfaced privately in 2024.
Estimated value as of last trade approximately $15K USD.