About the Cincinnati Mining and Trading Company
Founded in 1849, the California Mining and Trading Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, is believed that the company had several gold-coin dies made while still in Cincinnati, and that its intention was to go to California, where gold miners would trade their gold dust to the company so they could strike it into these coins. So, for a California Gold company, they never struck any gold coins actually in California. Most of the coins struck for them are patterns and are in very limited in mintage.
The company’s personnel and exact activities remain poorly documented. In California, it is likely that the Cincinnati Mining and Trading Company used Broderick & Koehler to strike some of its coins, and it was also likely that Broderick & Koehler struck coins using dies for the Miners Bank and for the Pacific Company.
But Broderick & Koehler ran into their own problems, and they were publicly discredited by strong rumors of incorrect assays and debasement of a number of their products. The coins were struck by hand rather than in coining presses, so they were crude at best. And the designs were unusual and unlike those of most California private gold coins.
Coin Design Details
The obverse of the coins depicted an allegorical representation of Lady Liberty, wearing a Native American headdress, seen below. Around the obverse, the periphery is “CINCINNATI MINING & TRADING COMPANY. The reverse has an American eagle holding a shield and an olive branch. Around the top periphery is “CALIFORNIA TEN DOLLARS.” and at the bottom of the periphery is the date “1849.” It is debated if the dies were hand-made or not.
Two varieties of this ten-dollar denomination were struck: one with a plain edge and one with a reeded edge.
The 1849 Cincinnati Mining & Trading Company $20 copper coin is uniface; only the reverse design was minted on the copper. There are a few reasons a coin is only made with a design on one side; to lower the cost, reduce manufacturing time, or because the coin was a limited-edition coin made to be a presentation piece. Modern uniface coins are made due to production error, where the die cap would get stuck, or multiple blanks were being striked at the same time.
Numismatic Significance
Reportedly, a $5 denomination was struck in copper with a plain edge (NOT IMAGED). Most specimens of coins minted from this company are in high-circulated or uncirculated condition, though it’s debated if these coins were made for circulation or not. Cincinnati Mining & Trading Company coins are among the rarest U.S. private gold issues, highly prized by major private collections and museums such as the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution. Expand your collection today with this historic gold coin and shop our assortment of California fractional & territorial gold coins.
