WILLIAM SHARON DINNER SILVER INGOT Público Deposited

Conteúdo do artigo
  • The E-Sylum: Volume 6, Number 2, January 12, 2003, Article 13

    WILLIAM SHARON DINNER SILVER INGOT

    One standout exhibit at last year's ANA convention in
    New York included a silver ingot made for a special dinner
    in San Francisco in 1876 in honor of William Sharon,
    a Nevada Senator and bank baron. Dealer Fred Holabird
    published an article on newly discovered example of the
    ingot in the Winter 2002 issue of The Brasher Bulletin,
    newsletter of the Society of Private and Pioneer Numismatics.

    The article contains a reference to Panamint Balls of silver,
    which were discussed in the E-Sylum last November
    (v4n47 and n48). From the article (and Holabird's web
    site):

    "Senator Wm. Morris Stewart ... headed a bunch of investors
    along with John P. Jones in the mines at Panamint, California.
    In 1875 they pulled out a million in silver, but were acutely
    aware of highwaymen just waiting for the bullion-laden wagons
    to come down the treacherous canyons out of the Panamints.
    The mountains are so rugged, that there is about 6000 feet
    of relief in just over a mile of horizontal distance. Even the
    mighty Wells Fargo & Co. would not dare to establish an
    express office there for fear the risk of robbery was too high.

    "They said they wouldn't run any risks at Panamint, not with
    that bunch of highwaymen lying around just waiting to swoop
    down and gobble up every dollar in sight." Stewart needed
    a plan. "Finally I hit on a scheme. I had some moulds made
    in which a ball of solid silver could be run weighing 750 pounds.
    Then I began smelting the ore, and I ran out enormous cannon
    balls of the precious stuff that could have bombarded a
    battleship. When the road agents saw what I was doing, their
    eyes stuck out of their heads" "they acted as though I had
    cheated them out of property."
    http://www.holabird.org/americana2002/archive/Auction11/ingots.htm

URL da fonte Data de publicação
  • 2003-01-12
Volume
  • 6

Relacionamentos

Autor do PNN