Nikola Barovich Biography
Nikola Barovich was born on December 31, 1830, at Janjina, near Dubrovnik (Ragusa), Dalmatia. At the age of 18 he became a sailor and embarked upon the Croatian sailing vessel Fanica.Flying the Croatian tri-color (trobojnica), the Fanica, commanded by Captain Ivan Kopatich, in 1849 entered the port of New York, with a cargo from Dalmatian ports. In New York young Barovich left the Fanica and boarded a Russian sailing vessel, and headed for the capitol city of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro. Upon his arrival in Rio de Janeiro, Barovich left the Russian vessel, embarked upon another ship, and sailed via Cape Horn in the direction of California, hoping to get there in time for the gold rush, which was then in full swing. On June 17, 1850, he entered the Golden Gate, and arrived at the port of San Francisco. He immediately left the ship and went to the gold mines to seek his fortune. His search for gold took him as far east as Nevada. In 1852 Barovich opened a general merchandise store in San Francisco, and became quite prosperous. He was a leader among the Croatiansthere, and with the help of other Croatians he organized, in 1857 THE CROATIAN SLAVJANSKO-ILIRSKO DOBROTVORNO DRUSTVO (Slavonic-Illyric Benevolent Society).
Nikola in 1856 owned the famed Constitution Saloon in San Francisco, and from 1857 to 1860 owned the Sebastopol Saloon on the corner of Davis and Jackson Streets. He had a business at Sonora, California in 1852-53 and no doubt financed his saloons with his good fortunes in the mining camps. He was a share holder in the El Tesoro Silver Mining Co. of La Pas, Mexico in 1863.
He married Miss Dolores Castro, a member of one of the oldest Spanish pioneer families in California, and his son Augustus was born in 1866 in Nevada; Amelia, 1868; Frank, 1869; Mary, 1871; Dolores, 1873; Nicholas, 1875; and William in 1877.
Nikola was a pioneer of Austin, Nevada and owned the Alhambra Saloon in 1866, the Sazerac Saloon in 1867 and Barovich’s Saloon and shooting gallery in 1873. In 1867, to assist the Irish in Austin, he served on the St. Patrick’s Ball Committee.
After the silver boom in Nevada, he returned to California in 1882 and opened the Dalmatia Hotel in San Jose. Later he ventured into wholesale liquors and operated a winery.
5.015 oz DOWNYBROOK/ LEDGE Silver Presentation Ingot
Presentation Silver Ingot. Undated (circa 1860s-1870s). DOWNYBROOK/ LEDGE. in two lines on the face. N. BAROVICH/ TO/ CARLOTA.CASTRO in three lines on the back. The ingot itself measures 64.5mm wide, 20.5mm tall, 10.5mm deep, 156g = 5.015 troy ounces pure silver. A presentation piece. Unique.
From the Alexander Christopher Collection. Ex Chas. H. Fisher (7 December 1935), lot 162.
Nicholas Barovich, a pioneer resident of San Jose, California, was born on 31 December 1830 in Dalmatia, then part of the Austrian empire, now part of the Republic of Croatia. “Big Nick,” as he was known, was a 6-feet, 4-inch “giant” according to a local history article published in the San Francisco Examiner on 8 May 1979 (p.58) about Yugoslavians in early San Francisco. He emigrated from Janjina, near Dubrovnik, in 1849, and “made more money running a general merchandise store than panning gold.” By 1857 he owned two bars in San Francisco, the Constitution Saloon and the Sebastopol on the corner of Davis and Sansome streets. In 1864 he married Dolores Castro, a member of an old and prominent Spanish pioneer family from Alta California, after which they moved to Austin, Nevada during the silver boom and opened a bar and restaurant named the San Francisco Coffee Stand. Nicholas also operated saloons in Austin–Barovich’s Saloon and Shooting Gallery, the Alhambra, and Sazerac. After the silver boom, Nicholas and his family moved to San Jose in 1881, and lived there until his death on 2 June 1897.
One of Dolores Castro’s sisters was named Carlota Castro. This silver ingot was personalized and presented from N. (Nicholas) Barovich to his sister-in-law Carlota Castro.
[5/2025] https://auctions.cngcoins.com/lots/view/4-GH2MPW/presentation-silver-ingot ($15,625)