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Shipment of 54 lbs. of Gold from California 1859

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Title: Bill of lading for shipment of 54 lbs. of gold bars from San Francisco to Panama
Author: **
Description: Partially printed, filled out in ink, signed by F.R. Baley, commander of the steamship "Sonora" and agent of the Panama Rail Road Co. and North Atlantic Steasmship Co. With 3 California State revenue stamps on the verso, red wax seal on verso. 8x14¼.Large shipment of gold sent by the firm of Crosby & Dibble aboard the ship "Sonora," 54 lbs. valued at $12,000 in a sealed package, bound for Panama, then across the Isthmus by rail, then by ship to New York, promised to arrive "in like good order and condition, (the acts of God, enemies, pirates, robbers, thieves, fire, accidents to or from machinery, boilers and steam, and the dangers of the seas, roads, and rivers, of what nature or kind soever excepted,) to be delivered unto Chas. W. Crosby Esq., or his or their assigns..." The revenue stamps on the reverse are of particular note - they are among the rarest North American tax stamps, the first adhesive tax stamps in the Western Hemisphere, preceding U.S. stamps. Exceedingly rare, less than 100 examples of any of these stamps are known.
Heading: (Gold Rush Gold Shipment)Place Published: San Francisco
Publisher:
Date Published: Oct. 19, 1859