Cresson Consolidated Gold Mining and Milling Company - Colorado 1918

Beautifully engraved certificate from the Cresson Consolidated Gold Mining and Milling Company issued in 1918. This historic document was printed by Western Banknote Company and has an ornate border around it with a vignette of the company name. This item has the signatures of the Company's Officers and is over 78 years old.






Certificate Vignette

The property was considered worthless until November 25, 1914, when a remarkable discovery was made of a pear shaped vug of calaverite (gold telluride) 14' wide, 23' long and 1265' below the surface miners working on the twelfth level discovered the legendary Cresson Vug, which in four weeks produced $1.2 million in gold (1915 prices). At today's gold price of approximately $540/oz, the vug would have been worth about $324 million! Sprague (1953) reported 1400 sacks of crystals from the walls of the vug. By May, 1915, the vug was still producing, as two carloads of first-grade sacked ore and two carloads of second-grade loose ore were shipped to the Golden Cycle mil at Colorado City. In July, 1916, the Cresson Co was bought by A. E. Carlton and associates for a reported $4.2 million. (Mines Handbook, 1931)

For the rest of the decade, the Cresson operated under a new company, the Cresson Consolidated Gold Mining and Milling Company, with A.E. Carlton, Spencer Penrose and Roelof as major stockholders. Under Carlton's ownership the Cresson remained an active, leading producer of the District until 1961. Today the Cresson is the largest surface gold mine in Colorado and is still producing.