Exquisite stock certificate for 100 shares in the Sutro Tunnel Company, one page, 12.25 x 7.75, May 24, 1872. Issued to E. Erlanger & Co., the certificate is signed by the company's president and secretary. It boasts a fantastically detailed vignette with a tall miner holding a pickaxe on the left side, and a bridge and railroad scene along the bottom. Beautifully cloth-matted and framed with an image and plaque to an overall size of 22.75 x 24.75. In fine condition.
The Sutro Tunnel is a drainage tunnel connected to the Comstock Lode—a massive deposit of silver ore—in Northern Nevada, conceived by Adolph Sutro as a means to allow access to deeper mineral exploration in the Comstock. Construction began in 1869, and the main tunnel was completed in 1878. The Sutro Tunnel pioneered the excavation of large drainage and access tunnels in the United States. An exceptionally rare stock certificate.