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LOT 50
Fabulous Pair
of Historic and
Beautifully Fashioned,
Solid Gold and Enameled Sheriff
and Under Sheriff Badges of James B. Hume, California Sheriff, Marshal and Head Detective of Wells Fargo and Company - Presented to James B.
James B. Hume
Hume while serving as Under Sheriff and Sheriff respectively
of El Dorado County, California in the late 1860’s. He was hired as a private detective by Wells, Fargo & Company in
1871, and worked for the company for the rest of his life. He became known as “the Sherlock Holmes of the Wild West” and continued to work for Wells Fargo until his death in 1904. By far Hume’s most famous case was his long pursuit
and eventual capture of the famous stagecoach bandit Black Bart, as described in our previous lot. The under sheriff badge is formed as an encircled star and is marked “JAMES B. HUME” at the top of the circle, “Under/Sheriff ” on the star, and “El Dorado Co.” on the bottom of the circle. It is border engraved and with light branch engraving at the
star points. Has a large gold horizontal back-pin. The markings are highlighted by black enamel. The second or “sheriff badge” is of a convex shield shape and has “James B. Hume/SHERIFF/EL DORADO/COUNTY/CAL.” on its face. “Sheriff ” is engraved and highlighted with black enamel, and the other words are highlighted with blue
enamel with additional border engraving and a large vertical back-pin of gold. RIA is very excited to offer these rare and elegant gold sheriffs badges. Identified western lawman badges of this quality are seldom offered for sale and are highly collectible. With their enameled embellishment over solid gold, these are virtually in a class by themselves, and only a few others of such quality and condition exist, with Pat Garret’s gold badge selling
for 6 figures several years ago and others that have approached and even exceeded that figure in private sales known within this specialty area of western artifact collecting.
CONDITION: Both of the badges are in excellent, untouched condition with very minor wear such as some light scratches. Identified badges of iconic western lawmen rarely come available. These are sure to be excellent to any western collection.
Provenance: Greg Martin, Michael Simens, Private Collection.
Estimate: 45,000 - 75,000
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