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![Souvenir Mining Spoon Smuggler Mine Aspen CO.JPG - SOUVENIR MINING SPOON SMUGGLER MINE ASPEN CO - Sterling silver souvenir spoon, 5 1/4 in. long, bowl engraved with mine and mill buildings and marked SMUGGLER MINE ASPEN COLO, handle marked in decorative pattern, reverse marked Sterling with maker’s mark for Whiting Manufacturing Co. (1866-1926 New York City) and Pat. 1893 [The Smuggler Mine is located on the slopes of Smuggler Mountain, at the north edge of Aspen, Colorado. It is the oldest operating silver mine in the Aspen mining district. The name Smuggler came from Charles Bennett, the first recorded claimant, in 1879. Bennett added to his mining claims a ranch in the area of the valley floor being used as a camp. In 1880 he sold them all to B. Clark Wheeler and Charles Hallam, who with their partners, among them David Hyman, the Cincinnati man who had first hired them to search for business opportunities in Colorado, formed the Aspen Town and Land Company. They surveyed and platted the 282-acre ranch, subdivided it, named the streets after themselves and sold the lots for $10 each, an event which brought the city of Aspen into existence. Hyman eventually assumed control of the Smuggler Mine which became wildly productive in the late 1880s. The passage of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1890, increasing the federal government's required purchase of that metal, contributed considerably to the prosperity of the city, whose population reached its all-time peak that year of over 10,000. For a time in the early 1890s, the Smuggler employed over 200 miners and produced one-fifth of the world’s silver. With the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1893, the price dropped, and many of Aspen's mines had to close. The Smuggler ceased most operations and laid off 70 of its miners. In 1894 the largest silver nugget ever was mined from Smuggler's depths. Originally, it weighed 2,340 pounds, but was too large to be brought from the mine intact. It was broken into three pieces, the largest weighing 1,840 pounds. The price of silver began to rise slightly in 1895, and the Smuggler was one of the few mines in the Aspen area to reopen. In 1917 the Smuggler reached the bottom of the vein that had been the mine's main source of ore and David Hyman decided to shut down the mine. The mine opened briefly in the 1970s but in 1984 it was designated a Superfund site after tests found high levels of lead and cadmium in the soil. It took the Environmental Protection Agency 12 years to clean up the site. While it is estimated that nearly a million pounds of recoverable ore remain in the mine, it is used as much for tours today as mining. In 2015 the mine, now listed on the National Historic Register, was sold and continues as an underground tour attraction.]](Souvenir Mining Spoon Smuggler Mine Aspen CO.JPG) |
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| Souvenir Mining Spoon Smuggler Mine Aspen CO | SOUVENIR MINING SPOON SMUGGLER MINE ASPEN CO - Sterling silver souvenir spoon, 5 1/4 in. long, bowl engraved with mine and mill buildings and marked SMUGGLER MINE ASPEN COLO, handle marked in decorative pattern, reverse marked Sterling with maker’s mark for Whiting Manufacturing Co. (1866-1926 New York City) and Pat. 1893 [The Smuggler Mine is located on the slopes of Smuggler Mountain, at the north edge of Aspen, Colorado. It is the oldest operating silver mine in the Aspen mining district. The name Smuggler came from Charles Bennett, the first recorded claimant, in 1879. Bennett added to his mining claims a ranch in the area of the valley floor being used as a camp. In 1880 he sold them all to B. Clark Wheeler and Charles Hallam, who with their partners, among them David Hyman, the Cincinnati man who had first hired them to search for business opportunities in Colorado, formed the Aspen Town and Land Company. They surveyed and platted the 282-acre ranch, subdivided it, named the streets after themselves and sold the lots for $10 each, an event which brought the city of Aspen into existence. Hyman eventually assumed control of the Smuggler Mine which became wildly productive in the late 1880s. The passage of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1890, increasing the federal government's required purchase of that metal, contributed considerably to the prosperity of the city, whose population reached its all-time peak that year of over 10,000. For a time in the early 1890s, the Smuggler employed over 200 miners and produced one-fifth of the world’s silver. With the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1893, the price dropped, and many of Aspen's mines had to close. The Smuggler ceased most operations and laid off 70 of its miners. In 1894 the largest silver nugget ever was mined from Smuggler's depths. Originally, it weighed 2,340 pounds, but was too large to be brought from the mine intact. It was broken into three pieces, the largest weighing 1,840 pounds. The price of silver began to rise slightly in 1895, and the Smuggler was one of the few mines in the Aspen area to reopen. In 1917 the Smuggler reached the bottom of the vein that had been the mine's main source of ore and David Hyman decided to shut down the mine. The mine opened briefly in the 1970s but in 1984 it was designated a Superfund site after tests found high levels of lead and cadmium in the soil. It took the Environmental Protection Agency 12 years to clean up the site. While it is estimated that nearly a million pounds of recoverable ore remain in the mine, it is used as much for tours today as mining. In 2015 the mine, now listed on the National Historic Register, was sold and continues as an underground tour attraction.] |  Original Image |
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