NumisHistory - Charlotte NC Mint
Good morning and welcome to a Fantastic Friday! In keeping with our current pattern of looking at the history of minting and printing of coins and currency every other day, I think it might be fun to look at a gold rarity and it's minting history. So grab a cup of coffee and pull up a chair. John Fred & his Playboys greets me this morning with their 1968 hit, Judy In Disguise.
The year was 1835. Andrew Jackson has been President for six years. Sometimes I wonder if we just weren't paying attention in school or the education system failed to share some of the most interesting facts of America's past. For instance, did you know that even all the way back into the 1830's banking corruption was commonplace? Today we have the Federal Reserve and from 1816 to 1836 we had the Second Bank of the United States. Jackson vetoed the renewal of its charter and dissolved the institution. He was also the first and only president to fully pay off the national debt! And finally, were you aware that in 1832, almost thirty years before the Battle of Fort Sumter; South Carolina threatened to secede from the Union over the Tariff of Abominations?
Sorry, I digress, but this is really interesting stuff. Anyway, the "Carolina Gold Rush" was the first gold discovery in the United States. In 1799 Conrad Reed, the twelve year old son of John Reed, a farmer in the Charlotte, North Carolina area found a 17-pound nugget in the creek that ran through the family property. In 1803, after forming a partnership to remove the gold, a 28-pound nugget was removed from the farm. By 1924, over 2,500 troy ounces of refined gold was extracted and shipped to the Philadelphia Mint.
In 1828, gold was discovered in Dahlonega, Georgia by a deer hunter when he tripped over a rock and and discovered it was full of gold. Within a year, over 15,000 miners rushed to Dahlonega to make their fortunes. By 1837, approximately 80,000 troy ounces were recovered in the Georgia Gold Rush.
Of course, finding the ore, extracting it from the rock, refining the gold, and finally getting it to Philadelphia was a time consuming and risky ordeal. So in 1835, the United States Congress approved three additional branch mints. The first in Charlotte, NC to service the Carolina Gold Rush; the next in Dahlonega, GA to service the Georgia Gold Rush, and finally, a mint in New Orleans. This final mint was established to insure passage of the bill and an approval from President Jackson who had a fondness for the city. Interestingly enough, the New Orleans Mint was the only one of the three to reopen after the Civil War.
The Charlotte Mint produced over $5 million worth of gold coins and the Dahlonega Mint created over $6 million in gold coins during the 24 years of operations. Compare that to Philadelphia which minted over $50 million in gold and the New Orleans Mint which received Mexican, and Central and South American gold in excess of $40 million during the same period.
So, are any of your gold coins from either of these two mints? Gold coins minted in Charlotte from 1838 to 1861 will have a "C" mintmark and the gold coins minted in Dahlonega during that same period will have a "D" mintmark. Today, these coins are obviously much rarer than those minted in Philadelphia and New Orleans and command substantially higher prices.
If you are unsure of what you have, give us a call or stop into David Douglas Diamonds & Jewelry in Marietta, Georgia and we'll see if we can help.
If you want to see or purchase this gold coin, visit us at David Douglas.
Well, I’ll let that be it for today. Go out there and make a difference! See ya later!
*Disclaimer: Precious Metal Musingsâ„¢ is written for entertainment and news purposes only and should not be used in making purchases and/or sales of precious metals.