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M.M. Fredrick Coin Silver Fork (Famous Comstock Jeweler)

Currency:USD Category:Western Americana Start Price:75.00 USD Estimated At:150.00 - 300.00 USD
M.M. Fredrick Coin Silver Fork (Famous Comstock Jeweler)
SOLD
75.00USD+ (15.00) buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2016 Dec 19 @ 08:10UTC-8 : PST/AKDT
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Rare. Coin silver fork with a "medallion" pattern (by Schultz & Fischer, San Francisco). Reverse is etched "Coin" and "M.M. Fredrick, Virg. Nev." Seven inches long. c.1870s-80s.



The M. M. Fredrick business was truly one of the pioneer jewelry businesses in Nevada. It began as Eaves & Nye in Virginia City in late 1862 or early 1863. William T. Eaves and Emanuel Nye started their jewelry store on the corner of C and Union Streets. Eaves lived in the building, perhaps in an apartment in the back or upstairs as was the common practice in Virginia City at the time. Nye, a carpenter in 1862 in Virginia City, lived on Stewart. Eaves was not present in 1862 for inclusion in Kelley`s First Directory of Nevada Territory [Ref: 1862 and 1863 Nevada Territory Directories]. Nye took over the partnership in the mid-1860s. By 1867 the firm was known as Nye & Rothenbucher, according to Langley`s Pacific Coast Business Directory for 1867. Emanuel Nye may have briefly left Virginia City in the early 1870s. The name does not appear again until much later, and then as a saloon proprietor. In 1871, the firm Nye & Co. was run by Issac Fredrick, probably a relative of M. M. Fredrick. Both the Nye & Co. and Fredrick businesses were listed at the same address, 36 South C Street in the 1871 Langley Pacific Coast Business Directory. They were listed as watch makers and jewelers. M. M. Fredrick took over the business and began using his own name in 1872, calling himself a manufacturing jeweler. The business made it through the fire of 1875. By 1877 Fredrick was billed as the Nevada Jewelry Manufactory, as listed on his billheads and in the Bishop`s Directory of Virginia City and surrounds in 1878. Meanwhile, Fredrick`s business was doing so well that he opened two other businesses. The M. M. Fredrick House, a lodging establishment on the north east corner of Union and C Streets, was opened about 1876 and run by his son, M. M. Fredrick, Jr. He also ran an auction business in 1876 [Ref: 1876 Langley Pacific Coast Business Directory]. By 1883, Fredrick was known as the Pioneer Watch Maker, still located at the old shop address, 36 South C. His store and business was then twenty years old [Ref: McKenney`s Oregon State Directory for 1883].



State: Nevada City: Virginia City Date: c.1870s-1880s FHWAC#: 41253