Arizona spike to be sold at auction
The Arizona spike from the May 10, 1869 ceremony at the completion of the transcontinent railroad is to be sold by the Museum of the City of New York at a Christies auction.
[Courtesy Google Alerts.]
posted from CPRR Discussion Group at 7:56 AM
5 Comments:
See related.
Also see Christie's Online Magazine, Number 333.
Historic Railroad Spike Fetches $2M at Auction
"Excitement struck deep at Christie’s New York last week as the hammer dropped on a historic railroad spike that sold for more than $2 million."
"Transcontinental railroad spike sold for $2.2 million at Christie’s"
"Details
A STEEL RAILROAD SPIKE CLAD IN GOLD AND SILVER USED IN THE CEREMONY MARKING THE COMPLETION OF THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD, 10 MAY 1869
Unknown, but possibly G.W. Laird, San Francisco, 1869
Driving the last spike. The Arizona Spike—presented at the ceremony marking the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. Commissioned and presented by Arizona Territorial Governor Anson P.K. Safford, this was one of four ceremonial spikes used to mark the "meeting of the rails" at Promontory Point, Utah on 10 May 1869. Inscribed on the shaft: "Ribbed with iron, clad in silver and crowned with gold Arizona presents her offering to the enterprise that has banded a continent, dictated a pathway to commerce. Presented by Governor Safford."
135mm (long); 25 x 20mm (head); 11 x 11mm (shaft)
Provenance
Anson P.K. Safford (1830-1891) – Sidney Dillon (1812-1892) – by descent to Florence Dillon Wyckoff Whitney (1877-1960) — gift to the Museum of the City of New York, 1943."
–Christie's
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