l
Left:
1. demi with gold washed bowl. holding a nugget, sterling
2. large demi of prospector holding a nugget and leaning on his
pickaxe. Engraved "Revelstoke" (British Columbia), sterling
3. spoon with prospector leading a mule (3 dimensional) --may be
more modern,.sterling by 'Bell'
4. "gold mine" wielding a pickaxe , engraved in bowl "Grandma" and
dated on the back 10-17-04, sterling
5. "struck it rich at last" prospector with the state capitol building
in Denver lightly embossed in the bowl, sterling by ELD
6. miner at rest and the gold washed bowl engraved "Idaho Springs
Colorado", sterling
7. Miner examining a nugget, gold washed bowl embossed "Royal Gorge,
Colorado", sterling
8. "millions in it" miner examining a nugget. gold washed bowl engraved
"Los Angeles, Cal", sterling, hand made spoon
9. demi "holding down a claim" showing a miner with a rifle in the
bowl, sterling
left:
1. copper spoon with miner at top working a winch and two miners in the
bowl working underground. Back marked "Montana"
2. two miners at top working a winch and two miners in the bowl
(see detail below).
3. souvenir spoon with mining, train, mule, miner scenes and a
loaded mule in the bowl. sterling. Back has cattle herding scene.
4. mule and hard rock mining scene. Gold washed bowl engraved "Long
Beach, Cal", sterling, back has panning gold scene
5. loaded mule finial and hard rock mining scene on stem. Bowl embossed
"San Gabriel Mission Los Angeles". back has gold panning scene,
sterling by ELD
Detail pictures of the #2 spoon above. Both pictures are embossed
The spoon is identified as being made by "Henry Bohm Denver" and the
back
has "Denver" bright cut engraved in a nice script
The unusual part is that it says "colorado silver". I am not sure what
that means. I suspect it is sterling with silver mined in Colorado,
but sometimes silver plated items are marked with strange terms.
Just below the top miner picture are the letters "ha". I suspect this
is the initial of the designer or silversmith.
Bohm is known to have been in the jewelry business in Denver (ca. 1896)
and his large home still exists.
I have now learned that this spoon was commissioned by Otto Mears, a
railroad magnate in the Colorado area.
The spoon was made in an unknown limited edition and given to guests at
a banquet in Silverton, Co. in 1891.
The "Bucket of Blood" is a currently operating saloon in the tourist
attraction of Virginia City, Nevada (near Reno)
I suspect that this heavy sterling spoon is related to the current
operation rather to the time when the Virginia City area had an
operating silver mine
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