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Pioneer gold coinage is uniquely American. The phenomenon of a circulating private gold coinage that

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Pioneer gold coinage is uniquely American. The phenomenon of a circulating private gold coinage that
Pioneer gold coinage is uniquely American. The phenomenon of a circulating private gold coinage that resulted from the Southern Appalachia and Western gold rushes is unparalleled. Although other gold-producing nations have created emergency coinage in small quantity, only the expanding U.S. and its determined pioneers found an answer to the pressing currency problems of the frontier in private coinage of gold. In all some $50 million worth of these special coins were issued between 1830 and 1861. The first private gold coiner was Templeton Reid in Georgia in 1830. All of his issues are extremely rare today. A year later in the North Carolina gold district of Rutherfordton, Christopher Bechtler along with his son Augustus and nephew Chris Jr. struck more than 30 different varieties of gold coins to provide a critical need for a medium of exchange. They became by far the most prolific and longest active private coiners, striking coins for more than 20 years. Twenty years after the first gold rush, California exploded with greatest outpouring of gold in history. Again, private companies answered the need for an adequate medium of exchange. Eventually, the government established the United States Assay Office, a provisional mint, employing Augustus Humbert as assayer, until a U.S. Branch Mint could finally be authorized. The tremendous proliferation of private gold coins in a period of only seven years (1848-1855) spread throughout the area until some thirty different companies in California as well as Utah and Oregon, were involved in issuing private gold coins, patterns, and ingots. The third gold rush and resulting rash of private gold coins came five years after the last private gold coin was struck in California. A new gold-mining bonanza appeared in Colorado and by the time its impact began to subside, at least three firms there, as well as the Mormons in Utah, had used the newly mined Colorado gold to issue private gold coins. In each of these gold rushes, private coins were accepted in circulation. They filled the void left by an insufficient supply of Federal coinage. At least $50 million worth were struck, of which 97-98% were melted. There is no doubt that these pioneer gold coins helped bring our nation out of its underdeveloped status and into a strong sound economy. PIONEER GOLD & PATTERNS FROM THE JACK KLAUSEN COLLECTION For more than three decades, Jack Klausen was considered the foremost dealer in Pioneer/Territorial Gold coins. Besides assorted rarities he could always be counted on to have a half dozen or so $50 octagonal and round slugs. When researching for what was to become my doctoral dissertation and later my book on this field, Jack was not only generous with his time and information but essential. While he sold much of his inventory over the last few years, it is with great pleasure and pride that I have been asked to catalog the following items from Jack's collection. THE BECHTLERS The first gold rush in this nation began in 1828 in Georgia and North Carolina; the new influx of gold dust necessitated a better economic system than the barter and subsistence farming in use. A short-lived coining operation run by Georgia jeweler and cotton gin manufacturer, Templeton Reid, only lasted a few months in 1830. Christopher Bechtler, Sr., together with his son, Augustus, and his nephew, Christopher Jr., began their coinage production in North Carolina a year after the first private gold coiner, Templeton Reid (1831). Beside being the first large-scale gold coiners prior to the establishment of the Charlotte Mint (1838), the Bechtlers have the added distinction of being the first to strike gold dollars--eighteen years prior to the United Sates' Mint. So well accepted were their coins, that thirty years later monetary obligations of the Confederacy were specified as payable in "Bechtler gold" rather than Union coins, Confederate, or state currency. When efforts to obtain a branch mint failed, several merchants requested the Bechtlers to assay their gold dust and convert it into coin. Bechtler made his own coining machinery, with the coins being stamped with the weight of the piece, its fineness in carats, and its dollar value. More than 30 different varieties in $1, $2 1/2, and $5 pieces were produced until the operation was closed in 1852.(1842-52) G$1 A.Bechtler Dollar, 27G. 21C.--Repaired, Cleaned--ANACS. AU Details, Net VF30. The peripheries are intermittently tooled and hairlined, with the centers have the myriad pinpricks associated with jewelry use. Territorial Gold coins are always popular regardless of condition. The dies are rotated approximately 270 degrees clockwise from coin turn. Important notice: We expect to be auctioning lots at the rate of 200-250 per hour. 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