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~ OLD WEST HISTORY STORE ~
Authentic Early Western Mining Stock Certificates
~ Own a Piece of the Old West ~
*** New items posted on a regular basis
1885 THE MOUNTAIN QUEEN MINING COMPANY - Incorporated Under the Laws of the State of Colorado - Principal Offices, San Juan County, Colorado & Chicago Illinois. Ornate stock certificate issued to John Hays for 100 shares worth $100 each. Large spectacular vignette, showing the mine buildings surrounded by mountains. "MOUNTAIN QUEEN REDUCTION WORKS" printed on the largest building in the center. Situated on the west fork of the Animas River, 3 miles SW of Animas Forks. Eureka Mining District. The size of the claim was 300 x 1,500 feet. Surface ore assayed at 15 ounces of silver per ton and improving with depth. Signed by L. H. Dyer as secretary and James H. Fairchild, company president. Shiny silver seal. ⛏ RARE - Price - $450
Greetings fellow western history buffs! I am a small dealer and collector of early western mining stocks & bonds. The hobby of collecting stock certificates is known as "scripophily". My specialty is mining-related documents but I do offer stocks from other industries as well.
I invite you to browse my online catalog by clicking the links above. I think you will find my prices to be quite reasonable, and in most cases, I can offer a nice discount if you purchase more than one certificate at a time. Imagine owning an actual gold mining certificate issued during the wild days of Deadwood, when the region was still called Dakota Territory, or a stock from the boom days of Cripple Creek, Colorado; also known as the "Worlds Greatest Gold Camp". Many of these certificates contain beautiful vignettes that are like a little window to the past. Whether you enjoy Old West history or are just looking for a unique gift for someone special, I guarantee you will be satisfied with your purchase. Old stock certificates always look nice framed in the home or office. What a great conversation piece!
Feel free to ask questions........
HOMESTAKE MINING COMPANY SILVER BULLION BARS - Loaf style ingots produced in the Black Hills at Lead, South Dakota. The Homestake has long-since closed and no more of these are being made. In my experience there are more collectors of these than there are bars to go around. These ingots were hand poured and stamped.
Most notable is the bar poured in 1985 - 48.84 Ounces. This is the most attractive example I have owned. The numbers are large and were very carefully stamped into the bar. Also notice the cooling rings.
The largest bars on the right are about 6 & 1/4 pounds each! *** Not currently for sale
MORE FEATURED STOCK CERTIFICATES:
1909 THE GOLD HAMMER MINES AND TUNNEL COMPANY - Incorporated (in 1902) Under the Laws of the State of Colorado - Very impressive stock certificate showing a large shiny-gold sledgehammer beneath the title. The company had a number of mining claims at Idaho Springs in Clear Creek County, Colorado. Signed by C. M. Balkam as secretary and J. Jay Joslin, president. J. Jay Joslin was also president of The Joslin Dry Goods Company of Denver. Printed by the Rocky Mountain Bank Note Co. of Denver. An excellent addition to any Colorado historical collection!
*** Scarce *** Price - $275
1896 ARCADIA MINING COMPANY - Incorporated (in 1895) Under the Laws of the State of Colorado - Teller County - Beautiful Cripple Creek, Colorado certificate issued to A. W. Baker for 5,000 shares. Owned part of the Lone Star #1 and Abe Lincoln mining claims. In 1900, the company was purchased by gold baron, W. S. Stratton. Spectacular vignette shows a rugged mountain wilderness scene. Printed by the Telegraph Printing Company at Colorado Springs. *** SCARCE *** Price - $495
1927 THE GOLD DIRT MINING COMPANY - Incorporated Under the Laws of the State of Colorado - Issued to Chas. A. Nippell for 12.60 shares. Owned both lode and placer gold claims on Cavode Mountain, near the town of Empire, Colorado. Clear Creek County. Signed by E. U. Shattuck as secretary and H. L. Shattuck, company president. Most notable is the one-of-a-kind vignette, showing a large gold nugget (in gold ink).
*** Rare stock certificate *** Price - $275
1869 BROMIDE FLAT MINING COMPANY - Incorporated March 2nd, 1869 - Issued to A. E. Hill for 50 shares worth $100 each. White Pine District, Nevada. Unique vignette. Chas. E. Johnson, company secretary. The Bromide Flat property was near Treasure Hill, Nevada. Office at San Francisco, CA. Early 25 cent Internal Revenue stamp affixed to left side. RARE stock certificate. Price - $395
1897 THE SCORPION MINING COMPANY - Incorporated May 7th, 1889 - Unique graphic on the left side shows a scorpion. Shares were worth $100 each. Storey County, Nevada. This silver mining operation was located in the famous Comstock Lode. An extremely rich mining district. Office at San Francisco, California. Price - $120
COOL MISC. ITEMS:
SITKA, ALASKA - SHELDON JACKSON MUSEUM
One Ounce Pure Silver Rounds.
This is the oldest museum in Alaska, founded in 1888.
I have just these (4) examples to offer. The front side is the same on all of them. Three have an unusual face on the reverse. I think it represents a symbol that would be found on a totem pole. One has a Native American star-like pattern on the reverse.
Reeded edge like a coin.
*** These are quite scarce.
Excellent condition.
Price - $89.00 / each
⛏ Almost 6 gram Australian Gold Nugget. (5.96)
Nuggets from Australia tend to have a higher purity than those found on the U.S.
Lots of character.
Certified to be an authentic natural nugget by Orocal, the #1 natural gold jewelry company in the world.
In my opinion, gold is always a good investment.
Price - $550
1986 MINOT, WARD COUNTY, NORTH DAKOTA CENTENNIAL COIN - One Oz. Silver. Each one was numbered. Map of the region on reverse. I have 2 of these to offer. Price / each - $65.00
1960s POSTCARD - Showing actual gold bullion bars from the Homestake Mining Company - Reverse description states that there are about 5,000 troy ounces shown in the photo, valued at $35 per fine ounce. This was the gold value in the 1960s... so it gave me a good idea how old this postcard is. Nearly 23,000 tons of tough, hard ore had to be processed to produce this amount of gold. Black Hills, Lead, South Dakota. Unused postcard. Have not seen this one before.
Price - $49.00
1892 "Souvenir made of Silver mined from the Mollie Gibson Mine, Aspen, Colorado" This pure silver polished plaque (bar) weighs 4.05 ounces. The fancy text etched into it is actually a deep blue color (looks black in the photo). It was found still inside the original leather, felt pouch. Even more interesting is that there is a Tiffany & Co. of NY stamp on the reverse. This is a high-end New York jeweler. I am told this was a promotional item to get investors for further development of western mines.
ANTIQUE ONE TROY OUNCE GOLD NUGGET RING - Here is something you don't see everyday. It looks even better in person. The total weight is 1.15 oz. so the nugget itself is around an ounce. It is almost too big to wear! Finger size is 7 but I'm sure it could be re-sized by a jeweler. I am told it is a California nugget. If you enlarge (click on) the photo you can see the reddish-brown matrix in the crevices - this is typical of nuggets from the Mother Lode region of California. This nuggets tests at 21K - 22K and the band is 14K. The band appears to be hand-formed and was not cast like modern rings. The design on the side was hand-tooled as well. The jeweler could not give me an exact age but said it was quite old. Natural nuggets this size are of course rare so even if you do not intend to wear it, it is a spectacular collector specimen. Possibly worn by a wealthy mine owner???
GOLD HOMESTAKE MINING COMPANY SAFETY AWARD - This was awarded to Albert Williams for 30 years without a lost time injury. I have seen silver examples over the years but this is the first gold one. With a bit of research, I found that this gentleman started working at the Homestake around 1959. Stamp on the (reverse) right reads: Williams Jewelry & Mfg. Co. Chicago. Left stamp reads: 1/20 - 10K (Gold). Seldom-seen Lead, South Dakota mining history! Price - $275
1987 THE GOLD BAR MINE - One Ounce Silver Round. Reeded edge. The silver used to make these rounds was actually mined from the Gold Bar. The front side shows a mine shaft built with timbers and the reverse shows a bullfrog with the text: GOLD BAR, BULLFROG DISTRICT, NYE CO., NEVADA - BEATTY, GOLD CENTER, TRANSVAAL, GREENWATER, LILAC, JOHNNIE. Very scarce issue! Price - $225