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San Francisco,CA - 1849 - R.H. Taylor Lithograph Proof Scrip :

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Western Americana Start Price:2,000.00 USD Estimated At:4,000.00 - 7,500.00 USD
San Francisco,CA - 1849 - R.H. Taylor Lithograph Proof Scrip :
Extremely rare lithograph proof printed on heavy proofing paper, Imprint of “T.Wood. N.Y.” Proof is in Very Fine condition with marks on the back where the piece may have been adhered into a file or printers proof book.

Taylor & Co. were 1849 early California Gold Rush commission merchants who acted in part as bankers buying and selling exchanges and gold dust, much the same as Page, Bacon & Co. and Palmer, Cook & Co. According to Ira Cross, they also loaned money, thus placing them into the banking category. Not much is known of the firm, which may not have lasted past the end of 1849.

This piece is an R9, probably Unique and was unknown prior to publication in the Ford sale. “Upper California” at top center. Datelined San Francisco, the piece has “50” printed vertically at the left margin and a “5” at the upper right margin. At lower right are the words “three, fifty and five”. The piece is printed by T.Wood, New York. Lines for the signatures of the President and Cashier are present along the bottom.

This clearly is a design proof for scrip that Taylor & Co. intended to issue for 50 cents in 1849. The piece is the product of an engraved plate. As a Unique proof from the 1849 period it will undoubtedly be collected alongside the great 1849 California pioneer gold patterns. This is the only surviving remnant of Taylor & Co. known to us. Ex Al Hoch, August 23, 1973, From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection.