Territorial gold coins are an enigmatic number of issues, made in various gold rush areas by private companies, when there was a need for a circulating medium. Most famous, obviously, are the pieces struck in California struck in 1849 and the early 1850s, but issues were also made in Georgia in the 1830s and Colorado in the 1860s. Usually made of gold minted shortly before, territorial gold coins come in various denominations ranging from gold dollars (the famous Bechtler issues from the 1830s) to $50 gold pieces, called “slugs”. At the time, mintages often were fairly large, but the majority of coins circulated heavily among the miners and in boomtowns, making all territorial gold coins rare, usually encountered in lower grades.
Assembling a set of territorial gold coins is a true challenge, thanks to the rarity of many issues, and the infrequent offerings of these pieces. A collector can focus on coins of a given era, denomination or period, although completion is difficult for virtually every subset. Also encountered with some frequency are pattern pieces, often made in the eastern states before the companies set out west, and include coins for companies which never made it to the gold rush eras. A number of territorial gold coins were made in San Francisco by the United States assay office, the predecessor for the official branch Mint which opened in that boom city in 1854.
US Rare Coin Investments is buying, selling, trading Territorial Gold, Territorial Coins. Do you have any territorial gold coins that you would be interested in selling or trading? Contact us here
1849 $10 Moran & Clark PCGS XF45. (1849) Moran & Clark $10 Copper Die Trail (K-1, high R-7). Moran & Clark is one of those companies that arose during the California gold rush of which very little is known.....More
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1855 Wass Molitor $10 PCGS AU58 CAC. K-6. R-7. Fresh, neat slider! 1850 Wass Molitor $10 "Plugged 5" (K-6, R-7 in that reference) PCGS AU-58 CAC. Offered here is one of the most enigmatic issues of all territorial gold coinage. More
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1852 $5 Wass, Molitor & Co. large head (K-2, R-6) PCGS VF25 - Struck by a firm of Hungarian immigrants, Wass, Molitor & Co. was one of many companies which struck gold coins during the California gold rush.More
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The first private gold coinage in the 19th century was struck by Templeton Reid, a jeweler and gunsmith, in Milledgeville, Georgia, in July 1830. To be closer to the mines, he moved to Gainesville, where most of his coins were made. Although weights were accurate, Reid's assays were not and his coins were slightly short of claimed value. Accordingly, he was severely attacked in the newspapers and soon lost the public's confidence. He closed his mint before the end of October in 1830; his output had amounted to only about 1,600 coins. Denominations struck were $2.50, $5, and $10.
The enigmatic later issues of Templeton Reid were probably made from California gold. Reid, who never went to California, was then a cotton-gin maker in Columbus, Georgia, where he died in 1851. The coins were in denominations of ten and twenty-five dollars. Struck copies of both exist in various metals. The only example known of the twenty-five-dollar piece was stolen from the cabinet of the U.S. Mint on August 16, 1858. It was never recovere.
A skilled German metallurgist, Christopher Bechtler, assisted by his son August and his nephew, also named Christopher, operated a private mint in Rutherford County, North Carolina. Rutherford County and other areas in the Piedmont region of North Carolina and Georgia were the principal sources of the nation's gold supply from 1790 until the California gold strikes in 1848.
The coins minted by the Bechtlers were of only three denominations, but they covered a wide variety of weights and sizes. Rotated dies are common throughout the series. In 1831, the Bechtlers produced the first gold dollar in the United States. The U.S. Mint struck its first circulating gold dollar in 1849. Bechtler coins were well accepted by the public and circulated widely in the Southeast.
The inscription AUGUST 1.1834 on several varieties of five-dollar pieces has a special significance. The secretary of the Treasury recommended to the Mint director that gold coins of the reduced weight bear the authorization date. This was not done on federal gold coinage, but the elder Christopher Bechtler evidently acted on the recommendation to avoid difficulty with Treasury authorities.
Do you have any territorial gold coins that you would be interested in selling or trading? We have developed a customer base over the years that consist of the strongest territorial gold coin buyers in the world. If you have territorial gold coins, whether they be lower grade or finest known territorial gold coin rarities, if they are priced fairly, we will either purchase them outright from you or broker them for a very competitive rate. Please call us 1-800-624-1870 1-800-624-1870 , or contact us with what you have and the price you are looking to get for it and let's talk! Don't know what you think they're worth and want an expert to take a look at them and make you an offer? Ship for fast cash offer or Contact us here for further discussions on how to get what you deserve.
