California Territorial Gold: Prized By Collectors around the World

It was January 24, 1848. At Sutter’s Mill in California, James Marshall was doing his daily inspection for the sawmill he was building. He found shining flecks of metal amid loose dirt and gravel after he diverted water to clean up the construction site. Marshall showed it to his crew and everyone was fairly certain it was gold. However, Marshall unaware of the significance of his discovery was focused on completing the sawmill on schedule.

Marshall had no idea what his discovery was about to unleash.

Today, historians consider the California gold rush to be one of the most significant events of the first half of the 19th century. Marshall’s discovery of gold triggered the largest migration in United States history as over 300,000 flocked to the California territory in search of riches and wealth.

These were exciting and rough and tumble times in the California territory. While miners pulled gold nuggets out of rivers and the ground, the raw gold was not effective as a medium of exchange. And, there was no way to turn that into coins in the west at that time. The first California branch of the U.S. Mint didn’t open until 1854.

The fortune hunters who flocked to the California territory desperately needed coins to pay for everyday goods and services. At that time, people used pinches of gold dust to pay for merchandise and services. However, this method lacked uniformity and an extra big pinch from a merchant could be costly.

There were proposals to use paper currency to ease the coin shortage. But, the people who had journeyed to the West had a deep distrust of paper money. They wanted gold coins. Indeed, Article IV section 34 of the 1849 California Constitution outlawed the right for any bank to “make, issue, or put in circulation, any bill, check, ticket, certificate, promissory note, or other paper, or the paper of any bank, to circulate as money.” Simply put, the people wanted hard currency.

So, entrepreneurs of the day seized the opportunity and opened private mints. Private gold was circulated out of necessity in the rural West due to the coin shortages.

The First Private Gold Mint in California

At that time, in New York City, a firm called Norris, Gregg & Norris specialized in manufacturing items like metal pipes, fittings, and boilers that were used in plumbing and steam-heating of buildings. Following the 1848 discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill, the enterprising partners— Thomas H. Norris, Hiram A. Norris, and Charles Gregg—relocated to California and formed a private mint.

In the spring of 1849 Norris, Gregg & Norris began minting the first private gold ever in the region, including several varieties of $5 gold pieces with both plain and reeded edges.

It made the local news. The Alta California newspaper reported: “We have in our possession a Five Dollar gold coin, struck at Benicia City, although the imprint is San Francisco. In general appearance it resembles the United States coin of the same value.”

Moffat & Co. Was Known for Meticulous Production of Its Gold Coins

In 1850, California became the 31st state to join the Union in September and at that time private minting was legal. Not only was the private issuance of money was common – indeed it was essential.

Moffat & Co. was founded by New York metallurgist John Little Moffat. His firm developed an assay office, which was semi-official in appearance and character, despite having no official connection to the United States government.

Moffat used U.S. American gold coins as a model for some of his coins. He employed Albrecht Kuner, a skilled Bavarian to create the dies for the five and ten dollar pieces. The dies were every bit as elaborate as official government coins. On the coronet of Liberty, the words Moffat & Co. replace the word LIBERTY, which was seen on official United States government coins.

Many of Moffat’s coins, including the 1850 $5 Gold Moffat coin are enduring pieces of numismatic history. Moffat & Co. was the considered most reputable and influential private gold minter of the California Gold Rush period.

Moffat $5 coins were heavily used in the gold camps. Later, many were melted down for the gold content. Today an 1850 $5 Gold Moffat in mint condition is considered very rare and a highly coveted prize for collectors.

Once the federal government decided to open a mint in California it leaned heavily on Moffat for guidance, support and advice. In fact, the successors of the firm eventually sold their minting facility to the U.S. Treasury department.

Eight-Sided Humbert Gold Piece Represents the Best of Gold Rush History

The significance of the 1851 Humbert $50 coin can hardly be exaggerated. This iconic eight-sided gold piece represents the best of the legendary California Gold Rush period.

The hugely popular $50 “slug” was designed by Augustus Humbert, a New York watchmaker. Humbert developed the obverse and reverse dies for his proposed $50 ingots and transported them across the country to California along with other necessary equipment. In 1851, he joined up with Moffat & Co. to produce these remarkable coins under government contract as the United States Assay Office of Gold.

The survival rate of the Humbert fifties is low, especially in a high grade. Once the U.S. Mint finally opened in California, many of these gold pieces ended up in the melting pots due to their high intrinsic value.

The Humbert $50 ingot’s memorable octagonal design features an eagle with a U.S. shield and three arrows in the right talon on the reverse. A scroll inscribed LIBERTY sits in the beak and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and FIFTY DOLLS surrounds the eagle. Around the edge it reads AUGUSTUS HUMBERT UNITED STATES ASSAYER OF GOLD CALIFORNIA 1851. A unique “Target” pattern fills the reverse.

Wass and Molitor Gold Pieces

Samuel C. Wass and Agoston P. Molitor, Hungarian immigrants who had studied metallurgy in Germany, saw the private minting opportunity and they jumped on it. The team opened an assay office on Montgomery Street in San Francisco in October, 1851. It didn’t take long before the hardworking pair developed an extensive smelting operation and assay laboratory that was publicly lauded in the local newspapers for its modernity.

In 1852, Wass, Molitor & Co opened for business and began minting ore into small denominations like $5 and $10 gold pieces. The public quickly embraced Wass and Molitor’s coinage. Their coins were considered good quality and miners who brought in nuggets and gold dust received fast service – their ore was turned into coins within 48 hours! Eventually, their gold pieces demanded a premium in circulation and were eagerly accepted in trade.

By 1855 Wass and Molitor began coining $20 and $50 gold pieces. The 1855 $50 Wass and Molitor gold piece is the largest coin their firm it had ever made – indeed a weighty, round $50 gold coin. The round $50 gold pieces remained popular and widely circulated until the San Francisco Mint began striking federal coins in a consistent fashion. By the end of 1855, the private coin firms were no longer needed and Wass, Molitor & Co. shut down.

Due to their hefty gold content, many of Wass Molitor coins were melted by the San Francisco branch mint to turn into federal coinage, which makes survivors especially in high grades extremely rare.

The End of an Era

The San Francisco Mint began operations in 1854. This stopped private gold coinage and marked the end of an extraordinary era for California territorial gold. The surviving private gold coins are bursting with history of a dramatic and exciting era in Western gold rush history.

Today, these highly sought after large Territorial coins are hard to come by and it can be decades before high quality specimens surface. Once these legendary and iconic coins change hands, collectors tend to hold onto them for years or even a lifetime. Wouldn’t you?