Fifty-five Western assayer’s ingots that made up Part XXI of Stack’s John J. Ford Jr. Collection Auction (held on Oct. 16 in New York City) realized $1,571,075 . Sixty lots were cateloged to have been auctioned, but five of the ingots from the collection were reported to have been stolen in transit. The photographs and descriptions of the “missing” ingots were however included in the auction catalog.

Some highlights:
* 1866 Conrad Wiegand, Gold Hill, Virginia City, Nev., gold and silver, 33.7 grams, $100,625.
* [1849] Meyers & Co., San Francisco, $18 gold, $86,250.
* 1864 Harvey Harris, Gold Hill, Nev., silver and gold, 12.2 ounces, $43,125.
* Edward Posen, Denver, gold and silver, 108.2 grams, $31,625.

We suspect that the 5 stolen ingots shown in the Stacks catelog are the five items with $0.00 sale prices. They include the following:

Lot 3509 - Blake & Company. Silver City, Owyhee County, Idaho Territory. Silver & gold presentation assay ingot

Lot 3515 - Gould & Curry Assay Office. Virginia City, Nevada. Silver & gold assay ingot number 8280.

Lot 3521 - Knight & Company, Assayers. Marysville, California. Silver assay ingot no. 1766.

Lot 3527 - Augustus P. Molitor, Assayer. San Francisco, California. Silver & gold assay ingot no. 406.

Lot 3552 - Conrad Wiegand, Assayer. Gold Hill, Virginia City, Nevada. Silver & gold assay ingot, 1874.