Silver Bar Found North of Government Well

[gollum]

I know this is an old thread, but I had been going through a bunch of old stories, seeing what interested me enough to maybe spend some time on. This was one of those stories. The casting had that old "Style" look to it. The rubbing is great...exceeeept for one thing (actually two):

When Mr Broderick did the rubbing, he left off two words (one at each end of the ingot). That word is "NICKEL". The bar he is holding is a Nickel Babbit Ingot:



The Great Western Smelting & Refining Co. didn't produce precious metal ingots. They made Nickel Babbit Ingots for bearings. Each end should read; XXXX and NICKEL. They are currently going for around $20 for a 48 ounce (Broderick's weighed between 4-5 pounds on a bathroom scale) ingot on ebay.

[cubsfan64]

Hi Mike,

For some reason my old account here was no longer working and I was unable to reset my password, so it took me a few days to reregister. I need to look into your information and take a look at the stuff I have on the ingot found, but it looks to me at first glance like you found some pretty overwhelming evidence to suggest it's a nickel ingot and not silver. This is one of those times where it's too bad Jim H is no longer with us as it would be good to get his input since he knew Carl B.

[gollum]

Hey Buddy. There is no question at all. Like I posted, "The Great Western Smelting & Refining Co. NEVER manufactured precious metal ingots." They made Nickel Babbit Ingots. If you see the four X's, THAT is the quality(hardness) of the Nickel babbit.

[somehiker]

Babbit bars like that are sold to those who restore and keep old machinery running today. They even sell them to antique car hobbyists who make their own bearings for Model T's etc. Babbet bearings were common in old equipment, so it's likely the bar was originally purchased for that use somewhere in the area, perhaps at one of the old mining camps, or even for use during the construction of the Roosevelt Dam, and simply lost in transit or washed down in a flood.