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FNB Helena, Bank of California, SF Check with bags of gold dust and ingots, 1869 [166208]

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Paper Start Price:100.00 USD Estimated At:200.00 - 400.00 USD
FNB Helena, Bank of California, SF Check with bags of gold dust and ingots, 1869 [166208]
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FNB Helena, Bank of California, SF Check with choice vignette of bags of gold dust and ingots sitting in front of a bank teller, 1869 with RN B1.
These checks are extremely rare, and exemplify everything about the gold rush, with the three bags of gold dust sitting next to the pile of small ingots being deposited with a bank teller. While this vignette was made for a Helena, Montana Territory bank, and clearly represents the gold mined in the early Montana mining regions, it is all about the Western gold rushes.
This check is stunning in its appearance. The check was ultimately headed to San Francisco's Bank of California, of which D.O. Mills was president. His sister Addie Easton was on the S.S. Central America in 1857. An original daguerreotype photograph of Mills and his family is part of this sale.
Castenholz, in his Field Guide to Revenue Stamped Paper, considers this check as one of the top western revenue imprinted checks, with only a small handful considered better, such as the purple Nevada imprint RN.
This check, and the other two in this sale, all came from the famous Henry Clifford California Gold Rush collection of Territorial gold coins, illustrated lettersheets and more Gold Rush items. This lot has an envelope from Clifford that contained the three checks.

Date: 1869
Country (if not USA):
State: Montana
City: Helena