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Sale 109
Lot 1748
Kellogg & Humbert Assayers gold bar. 896 Fine, 85.35 oz, $1580.85, Bar No. 826. Plated in Q. David Bower's monumental work A California Gold Rush History featuring the treasure from the S.S. Central America, Mold KH-04, KH #867. Two edge tests on this bar. Housed in a custom clear plastic holder with screws. An important and historical glimpse into the heyday of the California Cold Rush when bullion was being shipped about and fortunes were made overnight with the massive gold discoveries of that time. Hee is a fortune that was lost in 1857, only to be found 135 years later. Estimate Value $200,000 - UP
An impressive large ingot from the S.S. Central America treasure. Bright yellow gold. The lower-right corner was taken for assay purposes. A great numismatic item owing to its connection with Kellogg & Humbert assayers and coining office, and an even greater treasure piece, representing as it does a souvenir of the most illustrious treasure ever salvaged from the Davy Jones' Locker depths.
In 1857, the S.S. Central America supplied the trade route from New York City to the eastern side of the Isthmus of Panama. Beteween October 1853 and September 1857, the steamer with auxiliary sails completed 43 round trips and carried to New York about a third of the value of gold shipped on that route. In September, it docked in Panama to board people and gold bars, coins and other forms of the precious metal that had come from San Francisco on the S.S. Sonora.
On September 9th, 1857, while returning from Panama to New York City, the S.S. Central America ran into a hurricane. On the 11th, a major leak developed, and heroic efforts were made to bail out the water. On the 12th, all women and 28 or 29 children aboard were saved by a passing vessel, as were several dozen men. Shortly after eight in the evening of the 12th the Central American sank below the waves and was believed lost forever. Aboard was a vast store of gold being shipped from the San Francisco Mint to the New York Assay Office, plus coins and bullion carried for other accounts and many of the passengers, totaling $1,600,000 or more at a time when gold was valued at just $20.67 per ounce.
In the field of American gold coins, the S.S. Central America has yielded more numismatic treasure than all other source. Moreover, no other known recovery has included even a single gold ingot of the California types found with the S.S. Central America treasure.
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| Realized $198,000 |
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