Nearly 150 years after issue, a bond from The Franklin Silver Mining Company of Colorado, carrying a high content of American history, turns up in Bob Schwartz' upcoming auction of Banknotes, Scripophily, Coins and Security Printing Ephemera.
The Franklin Silver Mining Company was established in 1868 near Idaho Springs, Colorado. Its Franklin Lode was a large and rich vein of solid mineral. By 1906 the mine produced over a million dollars. The company's bond, lot 831 in the auction, is signed by Civil War hero Benjamin Franklin Fisher.
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| Sixty of these gold ink printed $100 bonds were part of a $60,000 loan issued in 1869 by The Franklin Silver Mining Company of Colorado. The bond was "convertible into the stock of the corporation at its par value, and redeemable at the option of the company at any time after three years." Signed by civil war hero Benjamin Franklin Fisher as the company's President. Click image to enlarge |
Two months after the outbreak of the American Civil War, Benjamin Franklin Fisher (1834-1915) went into service as 1st Lieutenant, Company H, 3rd Pennsylvania Reserves in June 1861. He was detached to the Signal Corps where he produced intelligence reports from observation posts. Promoted to the rank of Captain, he commanded a detachment of signallers from February 1862 with General Hooker, and on the Peninsular Campaign under McClellan. During the movement to Chancellorsville Capt. Fisher was the first to detect and report Confederate General Lee's movements up the Rappahannock river at the beginning of the campaign into Pennsylvania.
On June 17, 1863, while tailing Confederate lines near Aldie, Virginia, Fisher was captured and sent to Libby Prison in Richmond. There he was joined by Lieutenant Causten, his future brother-in-law. On February 9, 1864, 109 prisoners tunneled out of Libby Prison, including Fisher and Causten. That night they passed guards unnoticed, hided through the day in the thickets and the swamp jungles of the Chickahominy river, and continued their escape at night time. Both endured a two-day lasting snow storm and evaded search parties for several days. Then on February 18, they ran into the enemy and were shot at. His future brother-in-law was recaptured but Fisher escaped and found his way to Union lines at Williamsburg, February 21 1864. Fisher, Brevetted Brigadier General, resigned November 15, 1866 and started practising law in Philadelphia.
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| US, Chinese, Middle Eastern & Worldwide Banknotes, Scripophily, Coins, and Security Printing Ephemera featuring additional selections from the Alexander I. Progrebetsky Family Archives of Rare Chinese Banknotes |
Archives International Auctions' 44th sale takes place on Tuesday, August 29th, at Fort Lee, New Jersey. The sale includes about 300 antique stocks and bonds spread over several sections such as Chinese government bonds, treasury bills from Russia, US mining, US railroads and much more.
Auction details
- Date : August 29, 2017
- Place : Fort Lee, NJ
- Further info : see there and PDF version of the catalogue here
F.L.
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