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Henry Hentsch
$251.82 Gold Ingot
Guide Book plate ingot
Henry Hentsch, San Francisco. Gold ingot. · No. 3068. · $251.82. · 973 Fine. · 12.52 Oz. · (CAGB-203) . Smallest Henry Hentsch ingot recovered. Length: 54.6 mm. Width: 32.1 mm. Depth: 13.0 mm. Face: 3068 (vertically along left side of face) OZ 12.52 HY. HENTSCH $251.82. Back: NO. 3068 973 FINE. All other edges plain. Assayer's cut from upper right corner of face. This is the Guide Book plate ingot as featured on page 293 of the 2000 edition.
Details
Henry Hentsch, San Francisco. Gold ingot. · No. 3068. · $251.82. · 973 Fine. · 12.52 Oz. · (CAGB-203) . Smallest Henry Hentsch ingot recovered. Length: 54.6 mm. Width: 32.1 mm. Depth: 13.0 mm. Face: 3068 (vertically along left side of face) OZ 12.52 HY. HENTSCH $251.82. Back: NO. 3068 973 FINE. All other edges plain. Assayer's cut from upper right corner of face. This is the Guide Book plate ingot as featured on page 293 of the 2000 edition.
Bright orange gold free of encrustation. Another treasure from the most famous treasure ship of our time.
Bright orange gold free of encrustation. Another treasure from the most famous treasure ship of our time.
Further details
History of the Assay Office of Henry HentschSan Francisco Henry Hentsch is an ephemeral personality from the Gold Rush era of which little is actually known. In 1856, at the age of 21, Hentsch set up a banking office in San Francisco. The February 2, 1856 edition of the Alta California related the following: "ASSAY OFFICE OF HENRY HENTSCH. Northwest corner of Montgomery and Jackson Streets. I have this day annexed to my Banking Establishment an Assay Office, and am prepared to carry on this business in all its branches. All orders confided to my care will be executed with promptness, and I will guarantee all my assays. H. Hentsch. San Francisco, February 1st, 1856." The noted address was also known variously as Hentsch's Building and Wright's Building. Hentsch listed sundry international references that included prominent banking firms such as Melly, Romilly & Co., Liverpool; Morris, Prevost & Co., London; Mathieu Hentsch & Co., Paris; and Hentsch & Co., Geneva, Switzerland. At the time, European banks were a major destination for California gold ingots and bars, and these international endorsements no doubt attracted depositors with such customers in mind. In 1857, Hentsch's bars were probably mainly shipped overseas, including a large number of bars placed aboard the S.S. Sonora on August 20, those intended for transshipment via Panama to New York City aboard the S.S. Central America, perhaps then from New York City to London, Paris, and Geneva. In 1858, Hentsch was treasurer of the Arrangements Committee (of which Frederick D. Kohler, erstwhile state assayer, was also a member), set up in that city on September 27th to celebrate what was thought to be the successful laying of the Atlantic Submarine Telegraph Cable linking North America with the British Isles. His banking and assay business continued in good stead. By June 1859 he was also the official consul for Switzerland, aiding those who had commercial or other interests relating to that country. That same year, Hentsch advertised the following: "Assay Office and Banking house of Henry Hentsch, No. 120 Montgomery Street, San Francisco. Assayers of Gold, Silver, Quartz, and Sulphuret. Returns made in from twelve to twenty-four hours, in coin or bars, at the option of the depositor. Charges, one-quarter of one per cent, or $3 for lots under $1,200. Bills of exchange on New York, Liverpool, London, Frankfort-on-the-Main, Hamburgh, Berlin, Paris, Geneva. Deposits received and general banking business transacted. Consul of Switzerland. Henry Hentsch." In January 1863, advertisements noted that Hentsch and Francis Berton had established Hentsch & Berton, bankers and assayers, now located at 432 Montgomery Street. Listed endorsements suggested that most of its business was with overseas banks and gold dealers, including, as before, Hentsch & Co., Geneva. This firm later moved to the southwest corner of Clay and Leidesdorff streets. Throughout his partnership with Berton, Hentsch remained Consul to Switzerland. On January 20, 1873, the partnership became the San Francisco branch of the Swiss-American Bank. Hentsch moved to Switzerland and was in charge of the bank's Geneva office, while Berton remained on in San Francisco, managing the bank's facility in that city.