4200

Comstock Mining Check Collection incl. William Sharon Rarity [155511]

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Mining Start Price:200.00 USD Estimated At:400.00 - 800.00 USD
Comstock Mining Check Collection incl. William Sharon Rarity [155511]
SOLD
275.00USDto f*****E+ applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2023 Apr 02 @ 11:38UTC-7 : PDT/MST
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Lot of 14. 1) Best is a Union Mill & Mining Company, Bank of California check issued to and signed by William Sharon for $50,000 (over $1 million today) in April 1875. Signature is partially torn off, as is seen in at least half of the current known pieces. Signed on the back by Sharon too (unaffected). There are only about a half dozen of these known! Red print, RN-D, San Francisco dateline. This check was issued at a critical time for the Bank of California. The Bonanza Firm had wrestled away control of the Comstock that the bank had established in the 1860s. Just 4 months after this check was issued, William Chapman Ralston would be dead, possibly by suicide. All other examples of this check known are also for huge sums of money issued to Sharon, clearly representing an internal reorganization of the company. The Union Mill & Mining Co. was the organization that managed the Bank of California's large number of Comstock mines and mills. (Fair, Flood, Mackay, & O'Brien later organized the Pacific Mill & Mining Co. to do the same for their properties). Sharon was one of the most powerful men on the Comstock, running the Bank of California for William Ralston. The bank made a fortune by loaning to mining companies and then seizing their properties when they defaulted. Sharon was instrumental in the creation of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad, which he wanted to connect the Comstock with the ore mills he owned along the Carson River (with Ralston). Later in life, he also served as a U.S. senator. 2) Sapphire Mill, WS Hobart check. Issued in 1867 to A Dyer (VC lumber merchant). Signed for Hobart by WC Hall. NV and US IR stamps. 3-5) Three Empire Mille & Mining Company checks signed by RN Graves as supt., issued 1866-67. One is to the Sand Spring Salt Company. All have NV and US IR stamps. One has advertising for a bookstore printed on the reverse. 6-8) Three Gould & Curry Silver Mining Co., Bank of California checks. One issued in 1864, signed by Charles Bonner as supt. The other two issued in 1866, signed by Louis Janin Jr. as supt. 9) Summit Mill check issued in 1866. Signed by supt. Mason. NV and US IR stamps. 10) Blue Bank of California check, RN-G, issued in 1882. Signed by RP Keating (probably for the Savage Mining Co.). 11) Juniata Cons. Mining Company. Unissued (as normal), RN-D, 1875. This has a Virginia City dateline but was actually a mine in Aurora. 12-13) Two Carson City pieces: 1874 Wells Fargo, RN-D, signed by Rice & Peters; and unused 1870s Carson City Savings Bank Duplicate of Exchange in Gold. 14) Bacon Mill, 1870, signed by "Bonanza King" and US Senator James G. Fair. Please inspect.

Date: 1864-1882
Country (if not USA):
State: Nevada
City: Virginia City
Provenance: