The Daily Observer London Desk: Reporter- John Furner
Rare treasure pulled from Gold Rush era shipwreck SS Central America, dubbed the Ship of Gold, have sold at auction, including a 32 ounce ingot that went for $138,000.
A trove of items found in the ship that sank off the coast of South Carolina in 1857 due to a hurricane went up for sale at the two-day event.
Items sold included a large 18-karat gold quartz engraved brooch, which went for $49,200. San Francisco businessman Sam Brannan was sending it in 1857 to his son in Geneva, Switzerland, as a gift to his teacher.
The 32.15-ounce Kellogg & Humbert assayer’s California Gold Rush ingot was the highest selling item, while a saloon sign from the ship attracted a winning bid of $13,200.
The auction on March 4 and 5 was conducted in Reno, Nevada, as well as online, by Holabird Western Americana Collections, spanning 422 lots.
A haunting portrait of a young lady was sold in the auction. It is a 19th-century daguerreotype metal plate photograph, the first publicly available photographic process. The item was sold for $73,200
A saloon sign from the ship attracted a winning bid of $13,200
A painting of the legendary Ship of Gold
The oldest known miner’s heavy-duty jeans found yet and were the highlight of the first auction. A bidder paid $114,000 for them
Pictured is the wax seal still embedded in the lid, which sold for $99,600 in the first auction
The lid to the oldest known Wells Fargo treasure shipment box was featured in the first auction and appeared to have withstood the watery grave under the Atlantic Ocean
