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CA - San Franciso,c 1905-1957 - Selby Smelting & Lead Co., Lead Ingot

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Bullion Start Price:100.00 USD Estimated At:200.00 - 400.00 USD
CA - San Franciso,c 1905-1957 - Selby Smelting & Lead Co., Lead Ingot
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!!!
Rare. Pre-dates the Babbitt Ingot. Weighs 4.0 oz. Has a length of 73.31 mm, width of 21.97 mm, and depth of 10.37 mm. Stamped on the front “Selby Smelting & Lead Co./San Francisco/ Challenge Metal." Thomas Selby came to California in 1849 to make his fortune. He had been in a business venture in New York with his brother and Peter Naylor. It failed, and Selby was under pressure to make money quickly in order to pay back his creditors. His original purpose in coming to the Gold Rush was to make money to pay off his creditors, but Selby saw the potential of San Francisco as a western Mecca for business and for making more money, so he decided to stay and make the City his permanent home. It would take him three years but he did pay his creditors all off. He built one of the first brick buildings of the City in order to house his business, Thomas H. Selby and Company in 1850. Naylor was also his partner in this venture. This business dealt in non precious metals – both import and export - and hardware. Another name attached to this business is the Selby Smelting and Refining Company. Later in 1856, Selby would found the Selby Smelting and Lead Works, which was the first smelting operation for metals other than gold and silver on the west coast. His company enlarged their facility to forty furnaces and Selby quickly became the largest metal smelter in America. In making San Francisco his home, he would leave a permanent mark on the political, social, and environmental landscape. Selby became very active in both politics and society. He helped build both the Presbyterian and Calvary Churches. He was elected as an Alderman in 1851. He was very interested in free public education and worked to establish a school system in San Francisco. He also was influential in reorganizing the police department. Selby became the 13th Mayor of San Francisco in 1869. His smelting company kept on growing after his death and finally sold out in 1905 to American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO), which formed in 1899. ASARCO was still doing business in the twenty-first century. Fred Holabird thinks the ingot was made under ASARCO ownership.