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Territorial Values

Before 1857, U.S. coinage was not the only legal tender in the United States. This led to many foreign coins and private issues circulating alongside U.S. money. Even after 1857, some smaller private issues and state coins saw use in the Western U.S. states where Precious Metal coins were harder to come by. Private coins were usually struck to service a shortage in U.S. coinage. Most of these coins are incredibly rare due to low mintages.

New York – Machin’s Mills – 1747 – 1788

The coins that Machin’s Mills struck were underweight. They took in old British Half Pennies for their services and paid out their obligations using their new lightweight imitations. The counterfeit British Half Pennies are identified by the very thick lips of King George III on the obverse or by the large, triangular-shaped denticles on the coin’s edge.

Coinage of Vermont – 1785 – 1788

Reuben Harmon of Rupert, Vermont, was authorized to strike copper coins for the independent republic of Vermont in 1785. Colonel William Coley, who was a goldsmith from New York, was charged with creating the designs and the dies. They crafted 14 different designs over a four year period.

Coinage of New York – Brasher Doubloon – 1742 – 1787

America’s first private gold coins were some gold doubloons struck by Ephraim Brasher in 1787. Brasher was a goldsmith from New York and a next-door neighbor and friend of George Washington. No one is certain whether these coins were patterns for gold coinage or patterns for proposed copper coinage.

All Territorial Values Resources

Bechtler Gold – North Carolina – 1831- 1852

The coins that survive from the Bechtler family’s mint in Rutherford County serve as reminders of North Carolina’s rich gold history.

Christian Bechtler – Georgia Gold – 1830s

When Gold was found in 1828 in Georgia miners began sending and delivering gold to the Bechtlers for them to strike into coinage.

Baldwin & Co. – San Francisco – 1850

Baldwin’s coins were much needed by the citizens of San Francisco as he was one of the first minters to provide lower denomination gold coins.

Augustus Humbert – 1851

The large octagonal gold ingots Augustus Humbert produced served as coinage and were eagerly accepted by merchants, bankers, and miners.

August Bechtler – Carolina Gold – 1840s

They believed that by opening up a private mint, miners would have them turn their gold dust and ore into gold coins than risk the

Templeton Reid Georgia

Templeton Reid coins have the distinction of being the first private Gold issued in the United States in the 19th century.

Bechtler North Carolina & Georgia Gold

Christopher Bechtler moved to Rutherford County, North Carolina from his home in Germany. Bechtler was assisted by his son August and his nephew Christopher.

California Gold

Territorial and private issues were common through the Coinage Acts of 1857 and 1864, which banned private and foreign money from circulating alongside U.S.-minted currency.

California Fractional Gold

These private issue fractional Gold coins were a symptom of the difficulties of commerce with the Western states.

Oregon Gold

Many Oregonians traveled to California to find Gold when the Gold Rush occurred, and as they returned home they brought Gold dust.

Mormon Gold Utah

The Mormon $20 coin beat out the Double Eagle as the first $20 coin by about a year, making it an interesting historical precedent.

Colorado Gold

The Colorado Gold Rush came a decade after the California discovery of Gold at Sutter’s Mill, and it became the second biggest rush.

Hawaiian Coins

Hawaiian coins were struck at the San Francisco branch mint before the islands became a territory.

Wass, Molitor & Co. – San Francisco – 1852 – 1855

With so many competing firms no longer in business due to incorrect assays, Wass and Molitor obtained coinage dies for $5, $10, $20 and $50 coins.

US Assay Office – 1852 & 1853

In 1852, the United States Assay Office of Gold issued two different $50 “slugs” of different fineness in addition to issuing a $10 gold coin.

Templeton Reid – Georgia Gold – 1830

Templeton Reid, a Milledgeville, GA, jeweler and gunsmith struck the very first private gold coinage in the United States. Reid saw an opportunity and decided to try his hand at striking coins from Georgia-mined gold.

Templeton Reid – California Gold – 1849

Templeton Reid achieved fame striking Georgia Private Gold coins in 1830, which were in high demand in and around Georgia until his weights were shown to be inaccurate.

Pacific Company – San Francisco – 1849

It is believed that the firm of Broderick and Kohler bought the coinage dies and struck coins using the obverse and reverse dies witha sledgehammer, as coins had been struck since ancient times.

Oregon Exchange Company – 1849

The Oregon Exchange Company began striking gold coins for use in the Oregon Territory. Machinery was fabricated or purchased and shipped to their building in Oregon City.

Norris, Gregg & Norris Gold Coins – 1849

Gold was discovered in 1848 in Sutter Creek in California. One of the first companies to take advantage of the gold strike was Norris, Gregg & Norris, in Benicia City, California.

Mormon Gold – Salt Lake City – 1849 – 1860

The first coins struck with California Gold dust were coined in Salt Lake City, Nevada. The designs are truly symbolic rather than aesthetically pleasing.

Moffat & Co. Gold Coins – 1849

During the winter of 1848, Moffat headed to California to become part of the largest gold strike in U.S. history. Unlike so many others in California, they set out to mint gold.

Moffat –Humbert – 1852

The 1852 Moffat and Humbert coins looked different from their earlier counterparts. The obverse had a circular pattern above and below a central panel.

Miner’s Bank- San Francisco Gold – 1849

The Miner’s Bank $10 Gold Eagles had a fineness of .866 when a minimum of .900 was to be sought. Once the fineness became common knowledge, the gold coins could only trade at a 20% discount.

Massachusetts & California Co – 1849

During the 1849 California Gold Rush, the Massachusetts & California Company saw an opportunity to begin minting Gold ore and Gold dust.

Kellogg & Co. – San Francisco – 1854 – 1855

Kellogg & Company issued its first gold coins in 1854 and Kellogg claimed he could strike them at the rate of 1,000 coins per day!

John Parsons & Co. – CO Gold – 1861

Dr. John Parsons minted $2.50 and $5.00 Gold coins in 1861. It is believed that his “mint” was located in the back of his wagon.

J. S. Ormsby – Sacramento – 1849

Rather than going to San Francisco, the Ormsby’s stayed closer to the miners and that proximity brought substantial business to the brothers.

J. J. Conway & Co., – CO – 1861

In 1861, JJ Conway formed a company to help miners turn Gold dust into coins, striking $2.50, $5.00, and $10.00 Gold coins.

J. H. Bowie – Cal. Gold – 1849

Joseph H. Bowie is part of the extended Bowie family which includes the creator of the fighting knife and relative who perished defending the Alamo.

Dunbar & Co. – San Francisco – 1851

Edward Dunbar decided to start his own coining operation, so he bought the necessary equipment and began issuing coins with his name on them.

Dubosq & Company – San Francisco – 1850

Dubosq brought a coining operation – Machinery for the melting of gold dust and ore, as well as a coining press and other equipment.

Clark, Gruber & Company, Denver 1860 – 1861

Because no one was striking Gold coinage in Denver in 1858, the Clark brothers and Emanuel Gruber formed a company to assay and mint coins.

Cincinnati Mining & Trading Co. – 1849

It is believed that the company had several dies created in Cincinnati and intended to go to California to get the Gold miners to trade their gold dust.