LOT Holabird-Kagin Americana  /  THE GOLDEN WEST AUCTIONS  / 

2527

San Francisco,CA - c1849-1850 - Miners Bank and Savings Surveying Notes :

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Banks, Registers & Vending Start Price:1,250.00 USD Estimated At:2,500.00 - 4,000.00 USD
San Francisco,CA - c1849-1850 - Miners Bank and Savings Surveying Notes :

1). Unissued for 25 cents in gold dust. Alta, CA. Vignette of sailing 5 masted ship. This is an outstanding bright, sharply printed example, with a small cutout in the signature plate. This is the most common of all the fractional series of this note, with perhaps ten to twenty known, but this example is easily among the best, if not in the top two. Ford acquired it in 1958. There is a small tape repair to the rear to fix a small tear. R6. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection.

The Miners, Bank of Savings of Alta California. Little has been written on this bank, and, in fact, little is known. The phrase “Miners Bank” was used in 1849 and 1850 to refer to a bank headed by Stephen A. Wright of San Francisco. A second Miners Bank, The Miners Exchange and Savings Bank, was also in San Francisco in 1849, and it is entirely possible that the Miners Bank of Savings of Alta California was formed as a take off (name copycat) of the Miners Bank of Stephen Wright, who had issued gold coins in 1849 made by Broderick and Kohler.

It is unknown at this time if this is the same Miners Bank that issued the currency, but it is very doubtful, because there are currency notes from the Stephen A. Wright Miners Bank, datelined San Francisco, 1849 and signed by Wright and Haight. But the two are definitely related, as discussed below. None of the period references, particularly the newspapers such as the Alta Californian, suggest or mention a company with a similar name, or a company with the Savings Bank of Alta California affiliation.

The notes from this bank are rare. All known, with the exception of one, are less than $1 scrip fractional currency. The most common of the series are the 25 cent notes, of which the author knows of approximately eleven different notes. Six of these have the appearance of being issued, but with the evidence presented in the Stack's Sale of the Ford Collection, that issuance is in doubt until the actual notes can be inspected. All six are currently in a private collection.

The Ford Collection examples of the 25, 50 and 75 cent notes: these notes were printed by Gavitt & Co. of Albany, New York. A $1.00 note has since been discovered. They were not printed by the same company that printed the 1849 Miners Bank notes signed by Stephen A. Wright and Haight, printed by Danforth & Huffy of New York City. John E. Gavitt ran a bank note engraving and printing business in Albany based in the Exchange Building. At the time, there were seven banks in Albany. No Miners Bank was listed in the Albany Directory in 1849 [Hoffman's Albany Directory for 1849-50; Albany; 1849].

In an article of the Portsmouth Journal, May 11, 1850, A Miners Bank $3 note was shown to an Albany newspaper. The author said, "The new State of California, in the absence of the means of converting the gold dust readily into coin, it seems is favored with the facilities of a paper circulation. The Albany Atlas states that it has been shown a $3 bill of the most approved pattern, and in the best style of Danforth & Huffy, of New York, purporting to be issued by 'The Miners Bank of California,' J.E. Fuller Cashier, and William H. Graham, President. The bank is located at San Francisco" [Holabird, 2008, 245].

The immediate question arises, did members of the Albany banking community, after reading this in their newspaper, embark on a currency scheme of their own? This is excellent fodder for an evening cocktail discussion.

2). Unissued for 50 cents in gold dust. Alta, CA. Vignette of seated young woman. This note from the Ford Collection was rated R5 by Stack's, but that may be too lenient. While no formal census exists, it is doubtful that there are more than six of these fifty cent notes. This piece was acquired buy Ford from the Allen Brand Collection in 1959. It, like the 25 cent note, was filled in at a later date. None of the specimens known to the author are circulated. This is an excellent example, lightly card mounted for preservation with the reverse fully visible, with “Jun 11 1935 R.G.J.” and a note regarding Ford's acquisition. Possibly R8. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection


Sign In to Bookmark Lot