4034

Richmond GS MC stock, 1863, Very Rare [173452]

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Stock & Bond - Mining Start Price:200.00 USD Estimated At:400.00 - 600.00 USD
Richmond GS MC stock, 1863, Very Rare    [173452]
SOLD
200.00USDto a************f+ buyer's premium (50.00)
This item SOLD at 2023 Dec 10 @ 08:47UTC-8 : PST/AKDT

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Richmond Gold & Silver Mining Company stock certificate, Aurora, 1863. Very rare. Inc. May 21, 1863,. Dateline Aurora, June 27, 1863. Certificate No. 56, issued to R.C. Montgomery for 5 shares. Signed by president N. Williams and secretary C.P. Robinson. Not cancelled. Black border and print. Rare Civil War soldier vignettes (left border( plus mining vignette (top center). Printed by Towne & Bacon, San Francisco. Adhesive revenue stamp attached at right. Creases, roughness on top border. 4.5x9".

Charles P. Robinson was associated with the Union Stable on Pine Street in Aurora.

From ForgottenNevada.org:
By the spring of 1861 there were 2000 inhabitants in Aurora and an eight stamp mill, the Pioneer, crushing ore. By late Spring the Esmeralda Star began publishing and by that fall, considerable mining stock speculation was occurring.

Claimed by both Nevada and California, the town prospered to the point of attracted a young Samuel Clemens, who worked in one of the mills. By 1863 there were 10,000 people and 16 mills pounding ore. In the fall, surveyors finally fixed the boundary, and Mono County officials moved to Bodie. Crime and lawlessness were beginning to get out of hand, and in February of 1864 600 citizens formed the “Citizen’s Safety Committee.” Some desperados were hung with good effect. By 1865 the towns population was halved due to stock manipulation and speculation; and in January of 1866 a major fire burned all the buildings along Antelope Street. By this time, the population was about 800. By 1869 surface workings were exhausted and things were sliding downhill for the town's future.

In 1882 Aurora lost it's post office and the county seat to Hawthorne. By 1900 only about 75 people lived here, but during the boom of the early 1900's, the camp was rejuvenated, the post office returned, and the population rose to about 350, but it didn't last long. By 1919 the post office was closed. After World War Two, brick scavengers removed much of what was left standing, reducing Aurora to less than a shell of its formal self. In 1955 its last resident, Sigfried "Fried" Walker, passed away, and by 1960 Aurora's last brick building was destroyed.

Franklin Collection. Aurora California Franklin Collection