OUR GOLD FEVER COLLECTION
Sound gold investment strategies
Read pages 1-17
Read pages 18-32
"Gold's a devilish sort of thing. anyway. You start out, you tell yourself you'd be satisfied with 25,000 handsome smackers worth of it. . . . but I tell you, if you was to make a real strike, you couldn't be dragged away. Not even the threat of a miserable death would keep you from trying to add $10,000 more -- then, you'd want to get 25, 25, you'd want to get 50, 50, 100. Like roulette. One more turn, you know. Always one more." (Howard, played by Walter Huston, in his Academy Award winning part as the old-prospector in that great classic movie, "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," 1948).
Please see below for a collection of gold history artifacts from gold fever in the 1800's
U.S>A 3c postal stationery envelope (minor faults) with Wells, Fargo & Co. imprinted, from San Francisco to "Lee Yon Dart, Sixcle River", but redirected to "somewhere up the coast, north of Victoria", with Chinese writing at the left., The cover was charged upon delivery, with blue strait line "COLLEDT" (10c) applied by Wells Fargo and black oval framed "COLLECT" (25c) applied by Barnards Express, giving a combined charge of 35 cents. A scarce cover carried by two different express companies.
Stamp less Cover (tears) toe England with enclosed letter headed form Victoria (nov.15), the cover hand stamped with blue oval "POST OFFICE ? (ARMS) / VICTORIA V.I.", "SANFRANCISCO / CAL" c.d.s (Nov.23) and a hand struck 1/- charge applied upon arrival in Liverpool. Back stamped "LIVERPOOL / U.S. PACKET" (Jan. 8 1864) and at London. The enclosed letter written by an unsuccessful and destitute Englishman who had gone to Vancouver to make his fortune in the gold rush. The rather sad letter includes "have been to the diggings again and unsuccessfully. I am in a deplorable condition and see no hope of returning home this year or of doing any good for myself in this colony. If you were aware how absolutely penniless a man is when he returns unlucky from the mines you would believe me when I tell you I a m in utter destitution and that a workhouse life in England would be preferable to stopping here where a man is unable to obtain employment of any kind, where every vice surrounds him and where his Principle ambition is to get enough to eat." and Interesting gold rush letter from Vancouver Island.
The original hand written letter dated November 15, 1863 is held by the author of this site.
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