Items which have sold or are otherwise no longer available have been moved to the Sold Items Archive

NEW YORK

RFG-878. New York City. Drexel Winthrop & Company Third of Exchange, NY 2-Sep 1870

No. 1166 Third exchange check for 120 pounds signed Drexel Winthrop & Co. Extremely Fine. $100.

RFG-879. New York City. Eimer & Amend Assay Circular, New York, NY c 1900

This is a sixteen page catalog of assay equipment, all illustrated. Very Fine. $400.

RFG-880. New York City. James G. King's Sons Second of Exchange, NY 6-Mar 1855

Second exchange for 51,610 francs payable in Paris, France. Printed by Ruwdon Wright Hatch & Edson, New York. This exchange comes with two related documents. The first is a letter addressed to the payee, Harrison, regarding the 51,610 francs signed by James G. King's Sons, and the second is a two page letter regarding what constituted the 51,610 francs.

James Gore King was born in New York City in 1791 and died in 1853. In 1818 he established a bank in Liverpool, England with a relative, known as King and Gracie. In 1824 he returned to New York and became a partner in the bank of Prime, Ward & King. He became President of the Erie Railroad in 1835 and in 1837 at the height of the Depression, known as “Hard Times” went to England and secured a million dollar loan from the Bank of England. He was elected to Congress in 1849. In 1851 he formed this bank.

While the name James King is familiar to western collectors, the man on this exchange is not related to James King of William of San Francisco, who was born James King in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. in 1822. The condition of the three documents varies. The exchange is Very Fine to Extremely Fine and the two letters are Very Good to Fine. $500.

RFG-881. New York City. Ledoux & Ricketts Assay Certificate, New York, NY 3-Jan 1883

No. 3269 Certificate of Assay, Lafayette Mine Boulder County, Colorado. This assay certificate is very delicate, printed on thin onion skin paper. Fine. $250.

RFG-882. New York City. Platt & Brother Assay Office at #4 Liberty Place, New York City, NY 28-May 1864

This is an Exceptionally Rare gold bullion assay receipt (R8) from the Civil War period for George W. Platt, assayers in New York. Platt received 62.4 pennyweights of gold in ingot form from Vermilye & Co. bankers at 44 Wall Street. The Firm was Platt and Brother in 1863, but William Platt,  a banker, withdrew from the firm as a possible conflict of interest. At the time, New York bankers had the option to take their gold to one of four places: Platt's Assay business, Albert Speyers Assayers and Refiners, John Waters (relative to Blake's partner in Sacramento?) or the US Assay Office in New York. The form is very interesting in that it is in the old form of pennyweights and carats, not accepted by the Mint system at the time, who demanded all weights in troy ounces and fineness in thousandths. This shows the slow speed in which some bankers and assayers moved away from the old antiquated system of pennyweights and carats. [Trow's, New York Directory, 1865] $1,500.

RFG-886. New York City. Wells Fargo & Company Check, New York, NY 28-Oct 1870

Check issued to and signed by N.L. Zabriskie on the acct of Edwin Morgan for $400. Zabriskie is probably a relative of the Two Zabriskis of Nevada and California fame. Very Fine.  $60.

RFG-887. Wells Fargo & Company Check, Broadway, NY 23-Feb 1910

No. 1711188 Second Issued Travelers Check For $50. From the Art Kagin Collection. No photograph. $750.