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Authentic Early Western Mining Stock Certificates
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USA
NEW MEXICO STOCK CERTIFICATES
1912 NATIONAL GOLD AND SILVER MINING COMPANY - Incorporated Under the Laws of the State of South Dakota - Certificate issued to Henry Jones for 1,000 shares. MINES AND WORKS, STEINS PASS, NEW MEXICO (printed near top). Grant County, New Mexico. Signed by Mark R. Sherman as company president. Office at Chicago, Illinois. Price - $75.00
1904 THE TIP TOP COPPER COMPANY - Incorporated Under the Laws of the State of South Dakota - Main office at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This was a tough company to track down but I eventually found a reference to it. The mine office was located at Silver City, Grant County, New Mexico. Owned 4 mining claims in New Mexico near the Comanche and Burro Mountain groups. Signed by Dr. V. F. Mueller as president and Geo. W. Kliegel as company secretary. Price - $85.00
1869 THE NEW MEXICO MINING COMPANY -Incorporated (in 1858) Under the Laws of the Territory of New Mexico - Santa Fe County - Rare territorial certificate from the first mining company incorporated in New Mexico. Mines included the Ortiz Mine, about a half mile from Dolores. The famous Ortiz gold quartz claim was discovered in 1833 on the property of Jose Francisco Ortiz. The Ortiz gold lode contained porous quartz with free gold and some pyrite. Hand-sorted ore was crushed and amalgamated with mercury. The stamp mill was the first built in New Mexico. It is estimated that the mine produced $2 million dollars in gold! (ref. Fred Holabird)
The vignette is like a little window to the past - showing an early gold sluicing operation in a rugged pine forest. The company seal is punched into the lower-left. Jno. L. Kidwell, president and F. W. Jones, secretary. Office at Washington City. Price - $385
1902 COPPER CHIEF MINING COMPANY - Incorporated (in 1901) Under the Laws of the Territory of New Mexico - BLACK MESA MINING DISTRICT printed near center in bold letters. Rare territorial certificate issued to the company superintendent, Jared Sater, on April 7th, 1902 for 100 shares worth 50 cents each. The main office was at Lafayette, Indiana and the mine office at Kenton, Oklahoma. According to my research, the mine employed just 10 men. The Copper Chief had 10 mining claims on 200 acres of land in Union County, New Mexico. The ore was reported to contain 3% copper, with $2 in gold and 50 ounces of silver per ton. The vignette is unlike any I have seen - showing an Indian Chief highlighted in a shiny, copper-colored ink. Signed by Edgar H. Andress as secretary and Relief Jackson as president. Price - $325
1893 IRRIGATION AND HYDRAULIC MINING COMPANY - Incorporated January 13th, 1893 - This hydraulic gold mining and sluicing operation was in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, 18 miles south of Cerrillos. Signed by H. H. (Henry Howell) Armstead as secretary and Norman W. Kingsley as president. The fine print states that the company office was at Golden, New Mexico. Ornate reverse printed in green and looks a lot like an early bank note. 1000 share stock certificate at $10 per share.... so at the time of issue, it was worth $10,000. The border and corporate seal are shiny-gold.
Price - $65.00
1908 CORONA QUEEN MINING COMPANY - Incorporated Jan. 8th, 1907 Under the Laws of the Territory of New Mexico - Property located in Lincoln County, New Mexico. Consisted of 41 claims, about 800 acres, in the Red Cloud Mining District, at Corona, NM. This was mainly a copper mine. Bright, shiny-gold corporate seal. A red three Pence British tax stamp is punched into the right side, indicating the company sold shares in Great Britain as well. Signed by Miguel A. Otero as president and George W. Pritchard, secretary. New Mexico became a state in 1912. Price - $75.00
1893 PERCHA GOLD MINING COMPANY - Incorporated Under the Laws of the State of Illinois - Mines and Mills at HILLSBORO, NEW MEXICO (printed on left side). This is the very first stock certificate issued by the company - Stock# 1. Issued to the company president, Blanton C. Welsh, for a whopping 23,320 shares worth $10 each... so at the time of issue, this certificate was worth $233,200!!! The corporate seal is quite elaborate with a fancy design in the center. Edward S. Hunt, secretary. Uncommon Bald Eagle variation. Also notice the globe and clouds at bottom. Office at Chicago, Illinois. SOLD
1913 GOLD PLATINUM DREDGE COMPANY - Incorporated (in 1907) Under the Laws of South Dakota - Stock certificate issued to H. H. Reeves for 50 shares. I found little specific info about this company but did determine the operation was in New Mexico. Most notable is the picture on the reverse, showing what I would assume is the companies' gold, platinum dredge. You can see one of the operators standing on the right side. Signed by James R. Ryan as secretary and C. H. Chapman, company president. Office at Pierre, South Dakota. SOLD
1887 PEERLESS MINING COMPANY - Incorporated Under the Laws of the Territory of New Mexico - Certificate issued to John Boyle for 1,000 shares worth $10 each. Original discovery made in late 1885 on Walnut Creek. Gold / silver mine located 12 miles northwest of Silver City, New Mexico. The owners of the property netted $2,000 from the first car-load of ore and the value of succeeding car-loads increased steadily. Grant County. Office at St. Louis.
Price - $150
1896 THE HELEN MINING COMPANY - Incorporated (in 1893) Under the Laws of the State of West Virginia - Cooney Mining District, Socorro County, New Mexico. MINES LOCATED MOGOLLON MOUNTAINS, NEW MEXICO (printed in upper-left). Owned 13 claims; the principal producers were the Confidence and Black Bird. Ore contained gold, silver and copper. This mine was quite rich - production of the property was estimated at $1,300,000 by 1904. Stock certificate issued to David Halliday Moffat for a whopping 43,000 shares worth $5 each... so at the time of issue it was worth $215,000! Hand-signed by Mr. Moffat as company president. His signature is also on the reverse. Thos. Graham, treasurer. Certificate printed by the Homer Lee Bank Note Co. New York. Photograph (below) shows D. H. Moffat around 1898.
DAVID HALLIDAY MOFFAT was one of Denver's most important financiers and industrialists in late 19th and early 20th century Colorado. He became a millionaire in mining and railway ventures. His biography is way too extensive to include here so I recommend using GOOGLE for further history. Price - $395
1909 SOCORRO MINES DEVELOPMENT COMPANY - Incorporated Under the Laws of Missouri - Stock certificate issued to W. H. Anderson for 10 shares. Bald Eagle vignette. Operated mines near Socorro, New Mexico. Office at Kansas City, Missouri (printed at date line). Printed by the Union Bank Note Co. K. C. MO. Price - $69.00
1881 THE CONSOLIDATED BONANZAS MINING, MILLING AND SMELTING COMPANY - Mine located 1 & 1/2 miles south of Bonanza City, New Mexico. Now a ghost town. This mining operation was a consolidation of the Marshall Bonanza Mine, Baca Mine and the Spiegelberg Bonanza Mine. Notice that this stock certificate was issued to Lehman Spiegelberg for 500 shares valued at $10 each. One of the mines was apparently named after him. Uncommon, bright-red corporate seal. Reminds me of a wax seal. Office at Santa Fe, New Mexico. Price - $150
1904 SATER COPPER COMPANY - Incorporated (in 1903) Under the Laws of the Territory of New Mexico - Rare stock certificate showing a small oval portrait of the mine owner, Jared Sater. Workings located near Clayton, New Mexico in the BLACK MESA MINING DISTRICT. Union County. Owned 20 claims on 615 acres and a 5 acre smelter site. Ore contained 18% copper, 7 oz. silver and $2 gold per ton. Worked 4 veins averaging 25 feet wide. Certificate issued to Charles Jinn for 50 shares. Hand-signed by Jared Sater as president and Elmer E. Legg, company secretary. Copper-colored fancy title and corporate seal. Office at Columbus, Ohio. First example I have seen! Price - $295