2059

S.S. Islander Treasure Box Contents: 3 Gold pokes, 588 Troy OZ Gold [159106]

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Gold Nuggets Start Price:900,000.00 USD Estimated At:1,800,000.00 - 2,500,000.00 USD
S.S. Islander Treasure Box Contents: 3 Gold pokes, 588 Troy OZ Gold [159106]
NOT SOLD (BIDDING OVER), HIGH BID WAS
900,000.00USD+ applicable fees & taxes.
This item WAS NOT SOLD. Auction date was 2022 Dec 03 @ 10:00UTC-8 : PST/AKDT
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Three gold pokes full recovered from the SS Islander 1901 wreck near Juneau, recovered 2012, approximately 588 troy ounces.

Poke 1: 4" diameter, 15" long, 353 troy oz
Poke 2: 2.5" diameter, about 10" long, 180 troy oz
Poke 3: 4" long, 2" diameter, 55 troy oz
Handmade leather pokes, full of gold dust from Nome.

Built as a luxury liner, the S.S. Islander was constructed in Scotland in 1888 as a 1519-ton, 240-foot (73 m) steel-hulled, schooner-rigged, twin-screw steamer. It was owned and operated by the Canadian-Pacific Navigation Company and navigated along the Inside Passage from Nome to Seattle, with several stops in the US and Canada. The ship was primarily a passenger ship.

The ship was often overloaded with more than 100 passengers and prospectors both headed to, and headed home from the Alaska and Klondike goldfields. She hit a submerged iceberg on August 15, 1901, south of Juneau, and sank in 20 minutes. There were reportedly 40 casualties out of the 107 aboard. Reports of lost gold varied from $275,000 to $6 million. Staff reported at least 25 treasure boxes, which would indicate an amount of gold approaching $3 million at the time. A major recovery effort took place from 1929-1934, resulting in moving the major part of the ship near shore. Only two treasure boxes were recovered, containing a reported $75,000 in gold. The treasure boxes were only found after removing the dozens of feet of silt and mud burying the shipÌs interior. Another recovery effort was made in 2012-2014. Thousands of artifacts were recovered and given to the State of Alaska. Only one treasure box was recovered, and an entire second season was spent looking for the rest of the treasure boxes full of gold. Much has been written on the Islander, and there is an excellent legal record from Court proceedings on what was onboard. It remains one of the great Alaska treasure mysteries, and in all likelihood, the remaining dozens of treasure boxes are buried under a significant amount of silt. As an example, the gold rush coastal community of Dyea at the foot of the Chilcoot trail originally sat on the coast with sea (Bay) access. Over the next 100 years, with decades of mining upriver, Dyea became landlocked by about one mile. The sediment load coming from the mines was tremendous, and headed out to sea through Stevens Channel, where the main current is deep and swift, depositing her sediment load covering any trace of history.

All three of the pokes were sealed with a wax seal. The largest of the recovered gold pokes was opened under camera several years ago and the gold sampled. A professional brochure was prepared by Holabird, available by request. The science of the gold tells the story that these pokes came form gold mined in Nome, Alaska. Nome at the time was a thriving gold community, made famous to the world by the rich gold bearing beach sands. Wyatt Earp and his Tombstone friends including Tex Rickard owned saloons in Nome. Did some this gold come across the bar at Earp's Second Class Saloon or Rickard's Northern Saloon?

These pokes are the only remaining gold pokes from any American gold rush still full of their original gold. This represents a unique opportunity, and we offer here all three together.

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