Rare treasure pulled from Gold Rush era shipwreck SS Central America, dubbed the Ship of Gold, have sold at auction, including a 32 ounce ingot that went for $138,000.
A trove of items found in the ship that sank off the coast of South Carolina in 1857 due to a hurricane went up for sale at the two-day event.
Items sold included a large 18-karat gold quartz engraved brooch, which went for $49,200. San Francisco businessman Sam Brannan was sending it in 1857 to his son in Geneva, Switzerland, as a gift to his teacher.
The 32.15-ounce Kellogg & Humbert assayer’s California Gold Rush ingot was the highest selling item, while a saloon sign from the ship attracted a winning bid of $13,200.
The auction on March 4 and 5 was conducted in Reno, Nevada, as well as online, by Holabird Western Americana Collections, spanning 422 lots.
A haunting portrait of a young lady was sold in the auction. It is a 19th-century daguerreotype metal plate photograph, the first publicly available…
