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Auction: 323 - The Numismatic Collector's Series Sale
Lot: 1533

Sutro Tunnel Company (New York) 1868. City of New York. 25 shares. No.20. Prospector swings pick, left. Signed by Adoph Sutro as "Duly Authorized Agent." Issued, cancelled. There is a fold split backed with paper, age toning, and a small piece out at the bottom, otherwise Fine. In 1860, miners of the Comstock Lode encountering serious flooding and ventilation problems as they worked in ever increasing depths. Adolph Sutro envisioned a six-mile long drainage tunnel in order to solve the problem. In 1865 the Nevada legislature granted the company an exclusive franchise and a year later the U.S. Congress followed with another charter. The sale of stock in the U. S. allowed construction to begin in 1869, one year before this certificate was issued, but to complete the project, further funding was obtained from England through the banking house of McCalmont Brothers and Company. When the Tunnel was finished, Sutro sold his shares and moved to San Francisco where he quickly gained prominence as one of the leading citizens.
From the John E. Herzog Collection.

Sold for
$210