A Collection of San Francisco City and County Bonds Dating Back to the Gold Rush Era. Until the discovery of a few ledger books containing some of the items in this section of our sale, collectors of Western financial history had almost nothing to choose from in the way of early material from San Francisco. One of the major problems was, of course, the Great 1906 San Francisco Fire and Earthquake that destroyed almost all of the early financial records. Somehow, miraculously, a few ledger books survived, and pasted on to the pages of those ledger books were a small number of Bonds of the County of San Francisco. Bonds pasted on ledger pages are not usually considered to be highly desirable, but that is the only way you will ever own one. Issued in 1852, they are from a period in San Franciscos history when money was being raised to staff fire departments (since the City had already experienced two major Great Fires) and earthquakes were a common occurrence, 95 clipper ships arrived from the East Coast, tens of thousands of Chinese immigrants were pouring into the city. It would take large amounts of capital to build and rebuild infrastructure. Where did the money come from? Municipal bonds played a significant part in the story. Pitifully few have survived. Dont miss this opportunity to add to your Western financial history collection. California, County of San Francisco 1852, $100 bond. No.48. Moneta in chariot drawn by griffins. George Washington. Litho of B. F. Butler, San Francisco, CA. Issued, cancelled, redeemed. Very Fine, pasted on to a ledger page.
