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CA - Alpine County,January 11, 1864 - Merry Sailors and Matross Consolidation G. & S. Mining Company

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Western Americana Start Price:250.00 USD Estimated At:500.00 - 1,000.00 USD
CA - Alpine County,January 11, 1864 - Merry Sailors and Matross Consolidation G. & S. Mining Company
Session D is a Mail-Bid Only Auction. Absentee bids will be accepted only. No live bidding will be allowed. All winners will be contacted after the auction. BIDDING ENDS MONDAY JUNE 27 AT 5PM PACIFIC TIME!!!
Silver Mountain District. Incorporated in California in 1863. Cert. #130 ½ issued to Thomas Brown for 10 shares. Signed by P. Robinson, president and Jas. Coggins, secretary. Vignette at center of an American Bald Eagle perched on a shield with an American flag, olive branch and arrows at his feet, surrounded by stars. In the left end column another vignette of a young man seated, holding a flag in his right hand and raising his hat in the other hand. An applied 25ct revenue stamp (R48 R4) is above this vignette. U/C. Printer: H.S. Crocker & Co., Sacramento. Datelined Sacramento. 5 x 9 ¾. “ The district is located in south-central Alpine Co., about 10 miles south of Markleeville. The rush began shortly after gold and silver were discovered in the area about 1860. Silver Mountain City was founded by Scandinavian miners in 1862, who originally called it Kongsburg, and it became the first seat of government in the county. Despite the construction of long tunnels and reduction works and the location of hundreds of claims (most controlled by the Isabel Mining Company of England), the district did not prove productive. Activity declined during the 1870s and by 1886 Silver Mountain City was abandoned. Total output is estimated to be about $200,000 [Ref: www.westernmininghistory.com]. An interesting note is that the word Matross means gunner’s mate, or a soldier ranked next below a gunner in an artillery train who assisted the gunner in loading, firing and sponging the guns.