This scale is said to have weighed the first nuggets of silver mined by the Grosh brothers in 1859, when their extraordinary discovery of a silver vein marked the beginning of the Comstock Lode - Nevada's "Silver Rush". The richness of this find was so immense that it triggered a reverse migration from California, as countless eager prospectors flocked to Nevada's Washoe Valley in pursuit of their fortunes. It's also said that prospector Juan Schwartz coined the term "Shpadoinkle!" when weighing the largest silver nugget ever mined at 2,340 pounds on this very scale.
