2073

Round Coin Size Central City Silver Ingot

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Ingots Start Price:75.00 USD Estimated At:150.00 - 300.00 USD
Round Coin Size Central City Silver Ingot
SOLD
150.00USDto l******8+ buyer's premium (36.00)
This item SOLD at 2016 Oct 01 @ 09:17UTC-7 : PDT/MST
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Silver ingot. Round. 25mm, hand made. “6 dwt, 3 Gr” on one side, “Fine 999 Silver 1907” on other side. 0.30 oz troy. This silver piece comes from long time Colorado dealer Dan Brown Collection, purchased by our collector in August, 1979. It says “Central City” on the small blue paper coin envelope. This piece is of extreme interest. Over the years, I have seen a number of similar pieces, all hand made, and all crudely punched as is this specimen. In fact, I’d wager that all were made by the same person. Until now, I thought all were possibly fake, fantasies made to fool collectors. But this piece may tell A DIFFERENT STORY. Firstly, it has no mine name. secondly, it is dated. This leads me to believe that it may have been made in 1907, and it may have been made for an exposition, showing off the metal product from silver ores from some unknown mine. But why the non-standard weighing system?, and why the apparent refined silver? I have indeed seen references to the “old” weighing system from circa 1900, but not by standard mining men. Were there mines in Colorado that produced only silver, with little or no byproduct? Yes. But the Central City notation stumps me. This is a gold district. I then expected to find an exposition in central City in 1907. I cant find a record of one in the Mining and Scientific Press or Engineering and Mining News. The only conventions of note were a conference of the Western Federation of Miners in Denver in 1907 and the American Mining Congress meeting in Joplin, Missouri in 1907. The WFM wouldn’t have had displays. The WMC articles mention exhibits of Joplin area ores and products. This piece thus requires more research- can we find it specifically mentioned in a Central City newspaper? -fh City: Central City, Gilpin County State: Colorado, Date: 1907 Inventory# 41224