The Rest of the Story: The Remarkable Nevada Revenue-Stamped Water Lease and its Extraordinary Backstories


 March 1870 lease, Virginia City, Nevada, by Virginia & Gold Hill Water Co. to W. S. Hobart, of water from Gold Canyon at or near discharge of Trench Mill, Silver City, rent $100 per month for five years: 

U.S. $15 tax paid by $5 Charter Party (x3) 
Nevada $2.50 tax paid by $1 roulette 10 pair plus 25¢ roulette 18 pair

Sole recorded example of Nevada’s Lease stamp tax, 
illustrating the unintended discrepancy between U.S. and Nevada rates, 
fortunately magnified by five-fold errors in figuring the tax! 

Sole recorded 25¢ roulette 18 multiple on document. 

This exhibit describes a philatelically extraordinary 1870 water lease made at Virginia City, commercial center of Nevada’s fabled Comstock Lode, and explains its multi-layered backstory, not merely in words, but via an array of documents, each philatelically and/or historically significant in its own right. 

Together they describe the ambitious project of lumber and mining magnate Walter Hobart, supported by Comstock titans John Mackay and William Fair, to transport mill tailings from Gold Canyon, near the Comstock, via a 3.5-mile flume to the Carson River for specialized processing.


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