COINS OF THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH
Privately Minted California
Gold Rush $20.00 Gold Pieces
The discovery of gold in California touched off the famous California Gold Rush in 1848. Thousands of prospectors flocked west in search of their fortunes and supplies of gold bullion soared. Initially there was no means of turning gold into coinage and a severe shortage of gold specie arose. Almost immediately, private minting companies began striking gold into coins to convert bullion into a readily usable form. By the end of 1849 eighteen private mints were operating in San Francisco. There are no reliable published mintage figures for California Gold Rush coins as there are for federally minted coins, but even if there were, these figures are largely irrelevant. Most privately minted coins were melted down and sent to the San Francisco Mint after it opened in 1854. Privately minted gold coins also tended to circulate very heavily as they were manufactured specifically to fulfill the needs of commerce. As a result, of the survivors, uncirculated examples are quite scarce. The four handsome $20 gold pieces shown here were among the finest surviving examples from the most prominent private sources of gold coinage during the California gold rush.
The Famous 1848 "Cal" Quarter Eagle
1852/1 Humbert $20 Gold Piece
The obverse of this coin features an eagle perched on a large stone, its wings raised upright above its head. The fineness of the gold in the coin, 884 THOUS, is stamped on a banner above the eagle. Around the perimeter of the coin appear both UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and the denomination TWENTY DOLS. The reverse of the coin is dominated by two features: a mesh pattern known as an "engine turned" design and a rectangular banner containing four lines of copy: AUGUSTUS HUMBERT, UNITED STATES ASSAYER OF GOLD CALIFORNIA 1852. The date stamp is what is known as an "overstamp." The numeral "2" is stamped over the numeral "1," indicating that the reverse die was the same as the previous year, except with this slight modification.
1853 900T United States Assay Office of Gold $20 Gold Piece
The design of this coin is identical to that of the Humbert piece above, except that the fineness of gold in this issue is higher, as reflected by 900 THOUS stamped on the banner above the eagle.
1853 Moffat & Co. $20 Gold Piece
This coin's design obviously owes much to the U.S. Mint's Liberty Double Eagle. The obverse is identical to the Liberty design except that MOFFAT & CO. appears on Miss Liberty's coronet. The reverse is also identical to the Liberty design except that arching across the top of the perimeter is SAN FRANCISCO CALIFORNIA
1854 Kellogg & Company $20.00 Gold Piece
Once again here is a coin whose design was inspired by the Liberty Double Eagle. The reverse of this piece is identical to that of the Moffat & Co. example and with good reason: Kellogg & Co. acquired the reverse die from Moffat & Co. to mint its $20 gold pieces.
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