3149

Pacific Mail Steamship Co. Bill of Lading for Treasure Shipment of Gold Bars via Panama [154795]

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Paper Start Price:500.00 USD Estimated At:1,000.00 - 2,000.00 USD
Pacific Mail Steamship Co. Bill of Lading for Treasure Shipment of Gold Bars via Panama [154795]
SOLD
1,300.00USDto r******P+ buyer's premium (325.00)
This item SOLD at 2023 Apr 01 @ 10:43UTC-7 : PDT/MST
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Spectacular Gold Rush-era treasure shipment. This piece holds special significance for our auction house after our SS Central America sales. The SS Central America followed the same transportation process outline on this form. This receipt, dated August 4th, 1859 in San Francisco, is for a 73.8 ounce shipment of gold bars for Crosby & Dibblee. Shipped from San Francisco on Pacific Mail Steamship Co.'s steamer John L. Stephens, under Commander Lappidge , bound for Panama. At Panama, it would cross the isthmus via the Panama Rail Road Company to Aspinwall, and then board a US Mail Steamship for New York to be delivered to Charles Crosby. Rate to Panama is $27.72 and rate from Panama to New York is $58.90. Gold is valued at $16,500. Signed by the Commander. Blank red seal. 8 x 14" Reverse has four California Bill of Lading stamps.

The firm of Crosby & Dibblee was a commercial mercantile house operating in San Francisco from 1852 to 1862 at 111 Battery. Charles W. Crosby and Albert Dibblee both arrived in San Francisco in 1850. Crosby was from Roxburg, Massachusetts, and had worked as a dry-goods clerk in Boston. After accumulating a fortune during his San Francisco shipping years, he relocated to New York City in the 1860s and became a prominent member of the New York Cotton Exchange. Albert Dibblee was born in upstate New York and worked for the State Bank of New York before emigrating to California in 1850. After establishing himself in the commercial shipping business in San Francisco, he ranched and was president of the Giant Powder Company until his death in 1895. Dibblee participated in the Vigilance Committee of 1856. He was influential in the People's Reform Party and held various offices in the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.

Please see Fred Holabird's detailed essay on the Pacific Mail Steamship Company in the SS Central America Part II virtual catalog, available on holabirdamericana.com.

Date: 1859
Country (if not USA):
State: California
City: San Francisco
Provenance: