California Gold Rush Coins (by Mike Reisbord)

As the world rushed to California, the travel was long and difficult. In the late 1840's and early 1850's, getting to California took months, and by the time most people reached the gold fields, they had spent much of their money. Travel by boat or covered wagon could be expensive. Who could predict the bidding wars for a seat on a steamer boat for passage from the west coast of Panama to San Francisco. For those taking the overland route, last dollars were sometimes spent for water sold by ruthless entrepreneurs who knew it was needed for survival through the last 100 miles of overland desert.

Once a 49er made it to San Francisco or the Sierras, the necessary supplies and food were very expensive. Laboring in the gold fields could earn a man $10 per day, compared to the $1 per day a similarly skilled worker would earn back home in the East. Gold miners were frequently paid in gold dust and nuggets. Federal coinage to pay for labor and supplies was not available in sufficient quantity to support this new boom economy. While there were not enough coins, there was plenty of gold! The problem is that not all gold is of the same fineness, and unscrupulous individuals would try and cheat others by mixing in brass shavings with gold dust, or gold plating pieces of lead.

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These 1849 Moffat & Co. $5 pieces were among the most ubiquitous of all privately minted gold rush coinage. Today specimens are are frequently found in well worn condition attesting to their heavy use in the Gold Rush economy. Click here for other privately minted California Gold Coins and assayers.

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Some entrepreneurial individuals recognized the need for assay services and coinage production. Federal law prohibited the private production of coins as legal tender, but due to the emergency situation in the gold fields, the government did not enforce these laws. Men who had backgrounds as jewelers and bankers set up shop in San Francisco and Sacramento assaying and coining gold for a fee. Their coins filled a need for standardized money which helped facilitate the economy. Many privately minted coins of the era were designed to look similar to their federally issued counterparts.

In addition to the larger denomination coins above, many "small change" gold coins were minted by private firms. These small gold coins were made with face values of twenty five cents, half dollars and dollars. These pieces are frequently referred to as California fractional gold. Please click here for my California Fractional Gold coins page.

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A few firms produced coins which contained less gold than the stated fineness and weight, thus making an extra (albeit dishonest) profit in the process. When the general public learned that these coins contained less gold than stated, the coins traded at a discount to face value. This undermined the trust many people had in the coins made by honest firms, and the need for a U.S. branch mint in San Francisco was apparent.

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Coins made by the Federal Government in the Philadelphia mint were trusted by 49ers to have the correct metal content as the stated value, which made them more desirable for miners than privately struck coins. However Federal coinage was scarce in the far away boom towns of California. Click here to see all 13 coins made by the U.S. in 1853.

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In 1854 the United States government established the San Francisco branch mint to produce legal tender coins. Many people brought in their privately minted gold coins so that they could be assayed and recoined into federal coinage. This massive melting of the earlier gold rush coins is a large part of why these privately minted gold pieces are so rare today.

Click here to learn about an amalgam ball, one of the most unique forms of gold rush money.

Click here to learn about the 1854-S $10 Gold Eagle. These coins are relatively affordable, and they posses a great historical link to the California Gold Rush. Click here to read about the the legendary 1848 "cal" gold quarter eagle. These were the first coins made from California gold and were instrumental in starting the rush westward.

If you own some of these rare territorial gold coins, but are unsure of their authenticity or condition, I highly recommend submitting the coins for professional independent evaluation by one of the major certification firms like P.C.G.S. or N.G.C.

I frequently get e-mails from people who believe they may have a gold rush coin and unfortunately they are often modern reproductions. Do you own a Blake & Co. coin and are unsure of its authenticity? Click here to see some of the most common modern replicas of gold rush coins.

Disclaimer: I do not own many of the coins pictured on this website. My modest collection is kept in a bank safe deposit box at all times. I do enjoy examining and studying these fascinating coins and artifacts. If you have quality scans of California gold rush coins, artifacts, or assay receipts, I would love to see them for possible inclusion on my web site with or without a photo credit. Please e-mail to goofyft@aol.com.