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Dawson Manufacturing Co., 1901, Early Automobile Manufacturer Specimen Gold Bond Rarity.

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Stock & Bond - Certificates Start Price:150.00 USD Estimated At:230.00 - 450.00 USD
Dawson Manufacturing Co., 1901, Early Automobile Manufacturer Specimen Gold Bond Rarity.
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The auction will take place on January 24, 2023 at AIA's office located at 1060 Main St., Suite #202, River Edge, NJ 07661 beginning at 11:00 AM
West Virginia. $500, Specimen 1st Mortgage 6% Gold Coupon Bond. Black vignette and text on brown border, allegorical woman in middle with small train passing on her right under curved title. Specimen overprints, POC's, ABNC. In 1901, the first known car to be made in Virginia was the Dawson Car, named for George Dawson, an Ohio machinist. Dawson set out from Cincinnati for Basic City (now Waynesboro), Virginia, via the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad (C&O), in 1899. There, at the crossroads of the C&O and the Shenandoah Valley (later the Norfolk & Western) Railroad, he established a machine shop known as Dawson Manufacturing Company. While the railroads likely kept him in business, Dawson also decided to try his hand at building a steam-powered car. The Dawson Steam Auto-Mobile was a 2-cylinder runabout with single chain drive and tiller steering. The driver and one or two passengers could sit atop the bench seat; the engine was located beneath it. The car rode on wire-spoked wheels with white rubber tires. Its top speed was said to be somewhere between 25 and 30 mph, and its side brass lamps ensured that a driver could continue driving into the evening hours. After the first model was on the road and a proven success, Dawson tried advertising the car in an automotive trade journal — but there were no takers. Because he wanted to continue building a second car, eventually he sold the first to Luther Gaw (auto mechanic) and John Clark (barber) of Waynesboro, Virginia. While Dawson continued to try to get backing, Basic City's businessmen and bankers were not inclined to support the start-up car manufacturer. Discouraged and leaving his second incomplete car unsold, Dawson closed his business and returned to Cincinnati. Only 2 examples found in the ABN Archives.