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Bradley and Rulofson Note CA - San Francisco,1874 - 2012aug - Numismatic

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Western Americana Start Price:1,000.00 USD Estimated At:2,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD
Bradley and Rulofson Note CA - San Francisco,1874 - 2012aug - Numismatic
Invoicing and lot pick up will NOT be available at the live auction.
Extremely rare and possibly Unique one dollar gold note issued by the firm of Bradley & Rulofson, San Francisco. It was payable in photographs of the bearer. “Equivalent for a $1 Gold Note”, which did not exist. Bradley & Rulofson were professional photographers based in San Francisco. The note advertises the pair was awarded for “The Best Photograph in the United States”. There is a vignette of a boy to the left and a mining scene with a train in the background to the right. Four vignettes on back, a beehive at left, a woman holding sword and scale, and the obverse and reverse of a large medal awarded the pair at an expo in Philadelphia in 1874. Bradley opened a daguerrian gallery in San Francisco about 1850. Henry W. Bradley and William Rulofson became partners in 1863 in San Francisco and remained as such until Rulofson's death in 1878. The firm continued under that name through 1889, surviving a bankruptcy in 1877. Rulofson died when he fell off the roof of the photo gallery. Some considered it a possible suicide, perhaps a result of the bankruptcy. Rulofson was an experienced photographer who came to California during the early part of the gold rush in 1848. They not only ran the San Francisco gallery but also operated as traveling photographers. This note is in Fine condition, but looks Very Fine. [Ref: Biographies of Western Photographers by Carl Mautz] From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. -59939