2442

CA - c1849 - Gold Poke :

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Western Americana Start Price:760.00 USD Estimated At:1,520.00 - 2,500.00 USD
CA - c1849 - Gold Poke :
Dark brown leather poke, 47" x 1.25-4.25”. Cummerbund-shaped; pouch portion is 22.5” and is one piece of leather, folded and stitched on the backside; open end has a flap with opening for the 4” leather drawstring (broken); two leather straps on reverse of pouch measuring 10” and 6.75”; belt portion is attached with leather straps; buckle portion is sewn on; medium wear; the leather is stiff.
A poke is a small sack used to carry or transport placer gold. For a miner living in a rough environment, wearing a gold belt or poke was one way of outwitting the “bad guys.”Money and gold dust belts were secured to the body, with a typical new belt costing about 98 cents [Cohn, David Lewis. The Good old Days: The History of American Morals and Manners as Seen Through the Sears Roebuck Catalogue. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1940. 473].