INDEPENDENCE MINE Bank of Victor Colorado Revenue-imprinted RN-X7 check W. S. Stratton owned gold mine 1899

Check dimensions: 8-3/8 inches by 3-3/8 inches

Check significance:  Up until 1899, only office documents from Stratton’s Independence

Mine were produced for Stratton’s mining properties (excepting the Gold Crater

Company].  This check, with its superb and accurate steel-engraving of the

Independence Mine for the time, was one of the few representative paper items in

circulation.  A similar letterhead and a matching envelope with this Independence Mine

engraving were also printed.  In late 1899 – 1900, Stratton’s Independence Mine was

transferred intoBritish ownership.  Up until this time, no stock or share certificates were

issued on Stratton’s Independence Mine as it was a closed corporation.  Therefore, this

check is one of the few printed types of paper representing the Independence Mine.

However, stock was available in Stratton’s Gold Crater Mining Company, although, it,

too, was generally a closed corporation; and, therefore, Gold Crater stock certificates

are exceedingly difficult to rediscover.

COLORADO ARTIFACTUAL