RENO, Nev. (KOLO) – A 19th-century scale once used to weigh hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of gold and silver is now up for sale at a Reno auction.

The scale was used at the Nevada Mint in Carson City and was used to measure gold and silver in the Comstock Lode, among other places. It will also be available online through Holabird Western Americana Collections on November 24th.

“This is the original Carson City Mint bullion bullion scale built for the United States Treasury Department in 1869 by weights and scales manufacturer Henry Troemner and Company of Philadelphia. It was in operation the day the Mint opened in 1870,” said Fred Holabird, president of Holabird Western Americana Collections.

The Carson City Mint stopped striking coins in 1893, and the Mint’s building, which now houses the Nevada State Museum, was used as an assay office between 1900 and 1933. After the office was closed, most of the Mint’s contents were discarded by the Treasury Department. .

“The five-foot-tall scale, housed in a waist-high table for ease of use at the Mint, is believed to have been purchased by a local resident and later became an attraction at the Nugget Casino, which opened in Sparks, Nevada, in 1955. The casino’s General Manager, John Ascuaga, purchased the casino from his boss in 1959 and continued to display the scales there. The Ascuaga family sold the Nugget Casino in 2013 but privately kept the historic scale intact, in excellent condition and fully operational,” Holabird said.

“When it was on public display for decades, the scale of the Carson City Mint was one of those wonderful, special things that you didn’t have to be a coin collector to appreciate. “This is the most important numismatic artifact to surface in decades and is truly a treasure found,” said Holabird.

Copyright 2024 KOLO. All rights reserved.