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Despite the near mint state condition of a wide variety of
rare coins, the most unusual element of the Central America treasure may be the
hundreds of "assay ingots." These range from pocket-sized, such as the small,
rectangular five-ounce Blake & Company ingots produced in Sacramento, to a
massive, 63-pound, "two by four" (2 by 4 by 11 ½ inches) ingot from
Justh and Hunter. Their purity varies as widely as their size, differing from
580 find (just over half gold) to the 973 fine (indicating a nearly pure gold
value).
Although less common in the consumer marketplace than the
coins, the ingots are as revealing of the era and are also more unusual in that
they are all in private issue. Many began as dust and nuggets in the pockets of
miners, who brought the raw gold to private assayers for weighting and
valuation. The assayers melted down the gold, molded it into ingots, and then
shaved off a corner for their commission and to measure the purity. Finally
they would stamps the gold with unique identifying marks, indicating the
weight, purity, and value, as well as their own maker's marks, and return the
ingots to the owners. Gold in this form was the preferred type shipped to banks
and other businesses, as well as the US government. Commercial shippers also
brought their gold to private assayers, but did so in larger allotments. Five
assayers are represented in the treasure of the Central America: Blake and
Company, Kellogg & Humbert, Justh and Hunter, Harris, Marchand &
Company, and Henry Henstch.
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