✅ SOLVED California Gold Mining Era Finds Part 1

[USNFLYR]

I just returned from an area that had extensive hydraulic gold mining operations. It was near La Porte Ca. I found this very fragile tin box. It was almost whole when I dug it up, but it is crumbling away just sitting on a shelf. I noticed the chinese characters stamped into the box lid. I’m not sure if it is a "seal" or brand, etc. Can anyone help in educating what the letters indicate? Also found is a long crush metal cylinder. Along with water pressure, the miners blasted away the hillside. Is this something that could’ve been a cartridge from projectile used in bringing down the hillside, or maybe a tube-remnant from a modern cartridge (used in avalanche control)?

 

[Tesorodeoro]

By the way “California Mining Era” spans 90 years!! 1849 to 1940.

Most would argue 1849 to 1855, but many came much later to mine when technology enabled the serious hard rock mining and dredger mining.

 

[USNFLYR]

By the way “California Mining Era” spans 90 years!! 1849 to 1940.

Most would argue 1849 to 1855, but many came much later to mine when technology enabled the serious hard rock mining and dredger mining.

Too true. My uncle mined the Bunker Hill until the 60s

 

[Red-Coat]

The box is a neat find if it's what I think it is. Looks like a Chinese opium tin, normally rectangular and made of thin metal. They often have seal marks giving branding/seller/location which are similar to the one you're showing. Some examples:

A Chinese-speaker assisted on those finds (not mine, but from someone called Gerry In Idaho), saying: the first one has the seller or brand name as 'YUEN’ with an unreadable location above it; the second one is branded ‘HOP LOONG’, with the location given as 'HONG KONG' above; the third one is branded as 'FOOK LOONG', with another Hong Kong location above.

 

[USNFLYR]

The box is a neat find if it's what I think it is. Looks like a Chinese opium tin, normally rectangular and made of thin metal. They often have seal marks giving branding/seller/location which are similar to the one you're showing. Some examples:

View attachment 2259528

A Chinese-speaker assisted on those finds (not mine, but from someone called Gerry In Idaho), saying: the first one has the seller or brand name as 'YUEN’ with an unreadable location above it; the second one is branded ‘HOP LOONG’, with the location given as 'HONG KONG' above; the third one is branded as 'FOOK LOONG', with another Hong Kong location above.

Whoa. So cool. My rabbit hole just got deeper! Thanks a bunch

 

[USNFLYR]

Too true. My uncle mined the Bunker Hill until the 60s

 

[Tesorodeoro]

Too true. My uncle mined the Bunker Hill until the 60s

That’s cool. Right in my neighborhood maybe.