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Duncan, Sherman, & Co. and Alsop & Co. - Gold Receipt, rec'd from W.F. c/o C.T.H. Palmer - w/Iridium

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Ingots Start Price:500.00 USD Estimated At:1,000.00 - 2,000.00 USD
Duncan, Sherman, & Co. and Alsop & Co. - Gold Receipt, rec'd from W.F. c/o C.T.H. Palmer - w/Iridium
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Duncan, Sherman & Co. and Alsop & Co., Assay Office and Gold and Silver Refinery, San Francisco, CA, 1-Mar-1860. No. 8 Memorandum of Gold Bullion Deposited by W. F. & Co. ñ Palmer. Creme colored paper with black print including the words ìDescription of Bullion and below that ìGrains California. Weight before Melting 66.40 oz, After Melting 66.34 oz, Fineness .906, and a Net Value of $1,237.30. There is a handwritten notation ìCont Iridium. Iridium, heavier than gold and belonging to the platinum group of elements, is found in meteorites in much higher abundance than in the Earth's crust. The unusually high abundance of iridium in the clay layer at the CretaceousñPaleogene boundary gave rise to the Alvarez hypothesis that the impact of a massive extraterrestrial object caused the extinction of dinosaurs and many other species 66 million years ago, now known to be produced by the impact that formed the Chicxulub crater located off the Yucatan Peninsula. The most unique aspect of this exceedingly rare assay receipt is a small 1 embossed shield located at the upper right-hand corner with the five lines embossed as follows: ìDuncan / Sherman & Co / Alsop & Co / E. Justh / Assayer. According to Owen, Justh leased his assay business to Duncan, Sherman & Co. on March 1, 1860, the date of this assay. Note the No. 8 being one of the first assays under the new management. Alsop & Co. was a long well-known merchant that was involved in a variety of trade in the West and with South America. A treasure chest bearing his name was found in the wreckage of the S.S. Central America. He had an office in San Francisco and was a correspondent for the New York firm of Duncan, Sherman & Co. having a location on 411 and 413 California St. Justh continued on with the new company as Assayer until December 26, 1860, when E. Justh & Co. was the succeeding entity making these receipts ultra-rare and very possibly the only example having the embossed company shield present. Later in the spring of 1859 Justh had moved his remaining San Francisco branch to 104 Montgomery St. opposite Wells Fargo & Co. and this is the same address for the above firm. The motivation for Jusths short lease to the New York banking firm could have been financially motivated. R8+. Duncan, Sherman & Co.: Duncan, Sherman & Co. was another of the New York banking companies that entered the California gold rush marketplace. The company did not, however, enter into the banking world directly by the establishment of banks in California, but rather into the gold bullion trading and assaying businesses. Their first foray into California came in January 1854, when Palmer, Cook & Co. could not pay the bond coupons of the California State bonds, and Duncan, Sherman & Co. stepped in and paid them, thus protecting the credit of the State in the eastern markets. A lengthy letter regarding this period of a private bank backing a State Bond is fully discussed in Cross Financing an Empire, (v1, pp174-5, 182-3). Clarke discussed the financial ties between Duncan, Sherman & Co. and Palmer, Cook & Co. in William Tecumseh Sherman, Gold Rush Banker (1969). Alsop & Co. was a long well-known merchant in San Francisco dating back to at least 1850 and was the San Francisco correspondent for the New York firm of Duncan, Sherman & Co., having a location on 411 and 413 California St. at this period of time. Size: 13 x 4.25 inches. San Francisco California 1860