Early Comstock Lode Mining Document from 1859 Brings $16,875 at Holabird's 4-day Big Bonanza Auction

2024-04-17 08:09:09 Art & Entertainment

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Reno, NV, USA, April 15, 2023 -- An historic document from 1859, dating to the very beginning of the Comstock Lode silver rush in the U.S. and including mention of the most important mining claim ? the Ophir ? sold for $16,875 at a four-day Big Bonanza auction held March 30th thru April 2nd by Holabird Western Americana Collections, LLC, online and live in Holabird?s Reno gallery.

The Comstock Lode was a lode of silver ore located under the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, in Virginia City, Nevada (then western Utah Territory). It was the first major discovery of silver ore in the United States and was named after American miner Henry Comstock. The discovery, in 1859, sparked a big silver rush of prospectors to the area, all scrambling to stake their claims.

The document ? a handwritten deed on blue paper ? was datelined ?Ophir Diggings, Utah Territory, U.S., Sept. 17, 1859.? Just 11 days later the San Francisco Daily Alta California would announce a name change from Ophir Diggings to Virginia City. The document also mentioned the Comstock Lode?s ?Founding Fathers? (Comstock, McLaughlin, Osborn, Penrod and Walsh).

The auction overall contained over 2,000 lots in many categories that included mining, philatelic, numismatic, railroad, Native Americana and more. Since the auction featured Part 1 of what Fred Holabird called ?the best Comstock mining collection ever to hit the market,? the auction name was chosen to honor the ?Big Bonanza? ore discovery in Virginia City, Nevada, made in 1873.

Part 1 focused on mining stock certificates, ore specimens, ephemera and publications. Most were offered on Day 4. The session also featured a spectacular Comstock ?Wash-Oh!? illustrated lettersheet from 1860, drawn and engraved by TC Boyd (San Francisco) and with a vignette showing a natty prospector (or mine investor) about to meet the devil in a cornucopia ($5,750).

Day 4 ore specimens included a 55-pound boulder of Comstock silver-gold ore, reportedly found in the basement of the Virginia City, Nevada Bonanza Club in the 1980s, 16 inches by 13 inches by 10 inches ($4,375); and a cut and polished slab of gold-in-quartz ore from Goldfield, Nevada (Esmeralda County), 51.4 grams ($3,500). Wyatt and Virgil Earp both spent time in Goldfield.

Day 1, on March 30th, featured railroadiana and steamship (including railroad and steamer passes and transportation ephemera); bottles, brewing and saloon items; and general Americana (including political, jewelry, musical instruments, tobacco and gaming, sports, miscellaneous).

Railroad and steamer ship collectibles were a big hit with collectors. Top lots included these:

- An 1870 Central Pacific Railroad pass No. 511, issued in New York for travel ?Going West? to Rev. Henry Ward Beecher and his wife and signed by CP Huntington, as vice-president of Central Pacific Railroad of California and one of its four founders ($3,875).

- An early, unissued 1859 pass for the Great Northern Railway (which operated in Ontario 1853-1882), with a beautiful design and vignette of a train crossing a bridge ($1,250).

- A Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers pin badge with six stones (an emerald, a ruby and four diamonds), issued to Oscar L. Crockett, a conductor from 1873-1891 ($1,625).

Other Day 1 standouts included a two-page letter written by baseball legend Connie Mack in 1949 on letterhead from the American Base Ball Club of Philadelphia, discussing black players and mentioning Ty Cobb and Stuffy McInnis ($1,800); and a collection of six Oklahoma I. T. crown top bottles, each one 8 inches tall, some clear and some colored, with no cracks ($3,000).

Day 2, on March 31st, featured art, militaria and firearms, and stocks and bonds (to include mining, featuring the Comstock collection, railroad and miscellaneous), for a total of 548 lots.

One of the Day 2 top lots was a Winchester Model 1876 .45-.60 caliber buffalo gun with a 28-inch octagonal barrel, Winchester?s answer to the Sharps rifle for hunting buffalo. The gun sold had serial # 14871 and both ?1?s? looked like hoof prints, with a birthdate of Jan. 1881 ($6,000).

To learn more about Holabird Western Americana Collections, visit www.holabirdamericana.com. Updates are posted often.