Proposed territorial coinage use for Clark, Gruber & Co. equipment - 1864
RogerB
Posts: 8,852 ✭✭✭✭✭
This is part of a series of letters regarding use or sale of the old Clark, Gruber & Co. coining equipment from Denver, Colorado Territory (formerly part of Kansas Territory). The correspondence induced Mint Director Pollock to have Congress prohibit private coinage so that by the date of this letter, the proposal to coin gold in Montana was moot. Further, notice the reasons the writer gave for local residents not using Federal Notes - not the reason commonly assumed by coin collectors.
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Comments
There is at least one genuine neat
little gold bar that was poured in the ex Mint and bank building of Clark Gruber &
Co. that still survives.
It is stamped US Branch Mint Denver
Along with an eagle holding a branch and arrows and the date 1865
It was originally owned by miner
(later judge) Wilbur F Stone.
5.61 ozs
Basically an imparted bar
stamped G 781 1/2 Fine
S 213 Fine
Also has the IRS bullion tax stamp on it (1864-1868)
Ford nor Franklin have any connection to the bar
Rock solid pedigree
The Denver Assay Office regularly produced native gold bars of multiple sizes - essentially, it was a way to consolidate deposits when the owners preferred to ship east, or when the assay office did not have coin to pay depositors. The office was isolated until extension of the railroad.
Thank you. Interesting post.
The original Clark Gruber equipment is owned by History Colorado (formerly the Colorado Historical Society). I have been told that the equipment is currently in the possession of the Colorado School of Mines. I have inquired about potentially using it for a fund-raising project. No real progress on that front so far.
Interesting historical information... In these modern days, one can only imagine how the lack of currency/coins was dealt with in that period... barter was always big, but other forms of currency (gold dust, local script etc.) were also employed. Cheers, RickO
A very interesting bar. I have no reason to doubt its authenticity.
That said, I am surprised that it was only 0.7815 fine. Dan, you have experience with native Colorado gold. What is the average fineness please?
Before D Carr replies
a little more info on the bar
I think Stone’s claim was in South Park CT near Montgomery
In 1927 Wilbur Stone died and his
son Sidney inherited the bar
1862 Report Director of the Mint
Report they melted a Dr Parson’s
$5
lone trial found to be .751 fine
As can be read in the original letter, the inventory of Clark, Gurber & Co. equipment is very limited.
The following might add to the discussion regarding small Denver bars, and the fineness of deposits from "Pike Peak" region.
This is a previously posted letter regarding Pikes Peak gold deposited at the New York Assay Office. I'll add that the purity of deposits was less consistent than California dust, with considerable stony matter mixed with the gold. This was likely a result of careless sluicing or panning. Note that in the bottom table (this post) the value of most deposits is very small. This suggests panning or use of very small sluceboxs.
Here is a letter from the 1930s with the minimum gold bar size underlined (ed.).
Last, this is a summary of Pikes Peak (Kansas Territory) deposits received at the Philadelphia Mint as of August 30, 1859.
The bar shown is supposedly in the possession of History Colorado, although it is not on public display and I don't know the last time anybody actually saw it. I do not know of any others that exist. I assume such a bar would have a very high valuation if one came into the marketplace.
The one time I used native gold in the natural alloy was from the South Park (Fairplay) area and it was .825 fine with a substantial portion of the remainder being silver (which gave it a slightly greenish tint). The Denver assay office bar, if I am reading it right, indicates a content of .781 gold and .213 silver, which is an even higher percentage of silver than my previous Fairplay gold.
I might do a project that involves a small amount of Poudre River (Northern Colorado) gold which is rare and is reportedly the purest native gold from Colorado at about .940 fine. I haven't tested it yet, however.
Thank you both.
Apropos nothing at all, why was it called the “Pikes Peak Region?” Pikes Peak is well south of there. Sure it is visible as you approach Denver along the Overland Trail along what is now I-76, but so is Long’s Peak and a lot of the continental Divide.
Maybe because (my cousin) Zebulon Pike reported about the mountain that was later named after him. During his South West Expedition of 1806 (which never seems to garner the same respect as that of Lewis & Clark) Pike did not report much if anything in regards to Long's Peak, Mount Evans, or other northern Colorado mountains. Pike's route apparently entered Colorado along the central route in the vicinity of today's I70, not the northern route of I76.
That's great that you're related to Zebulon Pike. Have you thought of making a medal with the map of his route? It could popularize and help educate people on his expedition.
Earlier deposits were referred to as "Kanzas gold," or by more specific locations such as "Clear Creek," and "River Platte." However, the alliterative "Pike's Peak" name became attached when newspapers needed a convenient phrase to describe the gold fields. The distinctive shape of the mountain was also a guide post for travelers leaving the Great Plains. The phrase "Pike's Peak or Bust" referred to the long trip across the plains to the Rockies.
See: "Western Mining History" and other historical websites.
Great info above -- this piece is just illustrative, not a thread bend (U.S. Mint medal):
(From the portrait, it might have been called "Pike's Beak" ! )
I don't see that. In what way does it look like a beak?
"beak" as in slang for nose, schonz, honker....etc.
Actually he came into Colorado up the Arkansas River, which Spain considered to be the southern edge of the Louisiana Purchase in what is now Colorado. After he crossed it he was arrested by Spanish forces but later released.
The notion that “Pikes Peak or Bust” was a snappy newspaper headline makes a lot of sense.
Thanks to the contributors for a most interesting thread.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
The published maps of his route are somewhat sketchy, but it makes sense that his actual route would have been up the Arkansas River to the present-day Pueblo Colorado area. From there, the mountain would have been looming in the distance, much more than any other mountain.
I should have in 2006, but I was just getting started with my mint at that time (I did do some 2006 Denver Mint Centennial medals that year).
Anyway, I will think about it.