The U.S. Mint at Charlotte, North Carolina, specialized in gold coins. It produced $1 gold coins, $2.50 gold quarter eagles, and $5.00 gold half eagles.
The Perilous Journey From North Carolina to Pennsylvania
In the 1830s, the journey between Philadelphia and towns like Charlotte was time consuming and dangerous.
While the trip takes about 8 hours by car today, it could have taken several weeks for miners to transport a large quantity of gold, and the road could be perilous. Transporting gold was as dangerous then as it is now, and miners had to take the utmost precautions to secure their cargo.
In 1830, there was little infrastructure in place. Roads were often unpaved and seldom maintained, leaving few options for travel over long distances apart from horse-drawn wagons. While a railroad was under construction in 1833, it was not completed until 1840. Even then, the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad only covered 161 miles of the 540 mile trip, and it was the longest line on earth when it was opened.
At the time, Philadelphia was the only place in the United States where a miner could have their gold coined. This left many miners with few choices for assaying and coining their gold.
New Mints Established to Assist Miners
Like the Dahlonega and New Orleans Mints, the Charlotte Mint was authorized by the Coinage Act of 1835. The aim of establishing these three branches was to expedite the processing of gold from southern mines and goldfields.
The Charlotte Mint opened in 1837 and the U.S. Mint at Dahlonega and New Orleans followed and were operational by 1838, and all three branches closed in 1861.
These were built close to the sources of gold, which helped miners and workers avoid the long journey to Philadelphia.
The New Orleans branch of the U.S. Mint issued silver and gold coins to keep up with the emerging American economy. Meanwhile, the Charlotte and Dahlonega branch’s focus was processing gold from miners to coins.
Construction and Operation of the Charlotte Mint
In November of 1835, Samuel MeComb purchased 4 acres of land for $1,500, and a contract was awarded to Perry & Ligon of Raleigh, North Carolina, to build the new mint office. Construction began in 1836, and the office opened for business on July 27, 1837.
The Mint only refined and processed raw gold until March 28, 1838, when the branch struck its first $5 gold half-eagles. Later, in 1838, it began producing $2.50 gold quarter eagles, and in 1839, the Charlotte Mint produced its first small gold dollars.
The Charlotte Mint issued more than $5 million in gold coins in its short operational time before the Civil War. Coins produced in Charlotte in 1850, ’52, ’55, and ’59 are considered rare.
The Charlotte Mintmark
Coins from the Charlotte Mint featured a C mintmark to distinguish them from coins struck at the Dahlonega and New Orleans Mint locations.
Changes to the Charlotte Mint During and After the Civil War
North Carolina seceded from the Union in May of 1861. The Confederacy seized the Charlotte Mint and both other new Mint branches in the south and produced coins in Charlotte until October of that year. Then, the mint was used as a hospital and as a military office until the end of the Civil War.
Later, the mint was used to office federal troops during Reconstruction. In 1867, the mint found use as an assay office. In 1873, the General Assembly of North Carolina petitioned Congress to reopen the U.S. Mint at Charlotte, but the request was denied.
The Charlotte Mint remained operational as an assay office until 1913. Between 1917 and 1919, the building was used for the Charlotte Women’s Club meetings, and the space was then used as a World War I Red Cross station. The building was set to be torn down in 1931 so that the U.S. Post Office next door could expand. Two years later, in 1933, a group of citizens acquired the structure from the Treasury Department and relocated it east of downtown Charlotte. It was dedicated as the Mint Museum of Art in 1936 and was the first art museum in North Carolina.
Today, gold coins from the Charlotte Mint are highly sought after. The low mintage numbers, historical significance, and short lifespan of the Mint contribute to their scarcity and their numismatic value.
