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Bullion Mining Company Stock Certificate Signed by John W. Mackay, 1868 [195880]

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Stock & Bond - Mining Start Price:500.00 USD Estimated At:1,000.00 - 2,000.00 USD
Bullion Mining Company Stock Certificate Signed by John W. Mackay, 1868 [195880]
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1,350.00USDto A*****0+ buyer's premium (337.50)
This item SOLD at 2025 Oct 31 @ 13:24UTC-07:00 : PDT/MST
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Phenomenal. Mackay's signature on a stock certificate is a great Comstock rarity. This stock was issued in a pivotal time for Mackay, after he had started to make a name for himself as a competent mining investor and engineer on the Comstock, but before he and the Bonanza Firm would take control of the Comstock from William Sharon and the Bank of California. Located: Gold Hill Dist., State of Nevada (printed above the title). Inc. in Nevada, Feb. 12th, 1863. No. 1573, issued for 5 shares to JH Latham on March 2nd, 1868 in Virginia City. Signed by JW Mackay as president and GW Hopkins as secretary. Pen cancelled. Black border and print. No vignette. Lith. Britton & Co., SF. 25 cent US IR stamp attached at left, tied cancels. Condition: pinholes, folds, heavy staining at top left. Reverse has many pen notations about assessments. Secretary GW Hopkins would become mayor of Virginia City in 1873. JH Latham was the Wells Fargo agent VC. The Bullion Mine, staked in 1859, was located 1/2 mile north of Gold Hill on the north side of Bullion Ravine. It was promising property because it had rich Comstock mines on either side: the Chollar-Potosi and Consolidated Imperial. The Bullion absorbed the Corser, Eastern Slope, Wellington, and Fairview claims; 944 ft. total. No recorded production, even though the mine was operated from 1862 to the early 1900s. Mackay was first a trustee of the mine in 1863, then superintendent in the late 1860s. As a trustee, Mackay teamed up with J.M. Walker, who took on the role of supt. Unfortunately, even Walker and Mackay could not make it profitable. Before giving up, Mackay had the mine explored to a depth of 1,400 feet. Mackay's first success had come with his investment in the Kentuck in 1865. Mackay had just met James Fair a year before in 1867 when Fair was in charge of the Hale & Norcross. After Fair was dismissed from that job, he went to Idaho to explore mining opportunities, before returning to the Comstock in late 1868. In 1871, Mackay, Fair, Flood, & O'Brien used money made from the Hale & Norcross to start acquiring multiple Comstock mines, including the Con-Virginia. This mine would be the site of the Big Bonanza discovery in 1873 and cement their status as the "Bonanza Kings" of the Comstock. [Ref:Ansari; John Mackay: Silver King, Makley]
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Date: 1868
Country (if not USA):
State: Nevada
City: Gold Hill
Provenance: Douglas McDonald Collection