508

Clark, Gruber & Co. Letter, CO - Denver,

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Documents Start Price:1,000.00 USD Estimated At:2,000.00 - 3,000.00 USD
Clark, Gruber & Co. Letter, CO - Denver,
IMPORTANT NOTE ON BUYERS PREMIUMS:

Lot 100 to 343 have a premium of 15%.

The rest of the sale is 19.5% as noted in the listing.

Lot Pick Up: Holabird-Kagin Americana,
3555 Airway Drive Ste #309,
Reno NV 89511,
Sunday - December 9, 10am-4pm
1860 - Note to Waddell (Prior to Russell/Clark, Gruber & Co.) Russell, Majors and Waddell were the proprietors of the famous Pony Express. William H. Russell, one of the three was the principal owner of the 1860 Denver banking firm of Turner and Hobbs, considered “The first real banking organization in Denver.”

The firm of Clark & Gruber opened July 20, 1860, after obtaining coin presses and dies in Boston. That year they issued $10 and $20 gold coins. This is a note for $100 payable to William B. Waddell (of the Pony Express Firm, Russell, Majors & Waddell) by John R. Martin. John Martin worked for the pioneer apothecary, W. Graham, and was listed in the 1866 Directory. Graham had the first drug store in Denver, and apparently Martin went to work for him in 1860 upon his arrival in Denver. Martin is not listed in the 1859 Denver Directory. There is an endorsement on the reverse by Waddell. Whether Waddell was involved as a silent investor with William H. Russell in the Turner & Hobbs bank is unknown.

Regardless, this note may have been paid in gold coin struck by Clark, Gruber & Co. This is certainly one of the earliest known Denver banking documents in private hands, and has everything going for it: It is signed by an original owner of the Pony Express, and it was issued in Denver at the beginning of the Colorado Gold Rush. Generally Very Fine.



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