The first recorded discovery of gold in the new United States occurred in 1799 in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. Young Conrad Reed found a 17-pound nugget in a creek on his family's farm. The Reeds used the huge nugget as a doorstop for 3 years and then sold it to a jeweler for $3.50! Eventually, word trickled out about the true worth of the nugget, initiating America's first gold rush.

Much of the activity in this first gold rush centered around the town of Nuckollsville, Georgia where, in 1828, Benjamin Parks was deer hunting and overturned a rock laced with gold. Parks' discovery led to the first major gold rush in the U. S. and created overnight the boom town of Auraria, with a population of 10,000 by 1832. Auraria (from the Latin, meaning "gold"), was six miles from present day Dahlonega.

Gold production steadily increased following word of the result of young Conrad Reed's discovery. The problem that the gold miners faced was that there was no practical way for them to convert their finds (both gold dust and nuggets) into a spendable medium. Raw gold could be used for payment in local establishments near Dahlonega, but usually at a steep discount. Part of the difficulty was that the fineness of the raw gold was not easily determined. As already mentioned, it was also an arduous and risky task to attempt to have raw gold coined at the mint in Philadelphia, as it was a long distance from the southern gold fields.

There was a great need for a nearby facility to process the locally mined gold into legal tender coinage. Congress answered the call and the United States Branch Mint at Dahlonega, Georgia was established in 1835. The facility soon opened for business and produced gold coins from 1838 to 1861.

An increase in gold supply to the Dahlonega Mint occurred in May 1842 when a very rich strike was made at the region's O'Bar Mine. The gold was so plentiful that it actually strained the mint's ability to respond to deposits.

The discovery of gold in California in 1848 also played a significant role in the history of the Dahlonega Mint. Because there was no mint facility in California at the time, miners brought or sent gold back east. Gold from California began reaching Dahlonega in 1850. By 1851, deposits from California gold exceeded deposits of Georgia gold at the mint. This large flow of California gold was ended with the opening of the San Francisco Branch Mint in 1854. In that year, the last which saw significant deposits from California, the Dahlonega Mint managed to mint four gold denominations (Dollar, Quarter Eagle, Half Eagle, Eagle) for the first and only time in its history.

Yet a third mini-gold rush affected the Mint in 1860 and 1861, when a significant portion of the Mint's gold deposits came from the Pike's Peak Region of Colorado.

Of course, in 1861, the Dahlonega Mint was overtaken by events that had nothing to do with man's quest for gold. When the Union split with the secession of the southern states in 1861, the end came for the Mint. On May 14, 1861 the Confederate Congress voted to close the Dahlonega Mint effective June 1. The Mint never reopened.

Eight years after the Civil War in 1873, the building was donated to the state of Georgia and it became the primary building of North Georgia Agricultural College. Five years later it was destroyed by fire.

Dahlonega Mint Gold

During its 24 years of coinage operations, the Dahlonega Mint produced coins with a face value of $6.1 million. A total of 1,380,757 gold coins including the Half Eagle (1,109,258), Quarter Eagle (197,850), the Gold Dollar (72,529) and the Three Dollar Gold Piece (1,120) were minted at the Dahlonega Branch Mint from 1838 to 1861. This production run was spread across just 59 separate issues covering 4 denominations. Along with its sister Mint in Charlotte, North Carolina, it is one of only two mint facilities to have only produced gold coinage.

The Mint produced Half Eagles for the first time in 1838, Quarter Eagles beginning in 1839 and Gold Dollars starting in 1849. The Mint issued $3 Gold pieces only in 1854.

Many Dahlonega coins have mint-caused defects, such as weak strikes and various planchet irregularities. (Far from reducing the value of these coins today, this has actually added to the mystique and collectability of these coins by creating even more varieties.) Some numismatic historians believe that the Philadelphia Mint, which prepared all dies, including the addition of dates and mintmarks, had a practice of shipping substandard dies to Branch Mints. In late 1853, the Philadelphia Mint instructed the Dahlonega Mint to reduce the silver content of its coinage to 8 parts per thousand. This change softened the coins and the quality of coinage suffered greatly. The 1860-D Gold Dollar, the 1856-D Quarter Eagle and the 1855-D Half Eagle are notable examples of issues that experienced production problems.

However, not all of the Dahlonega Mint's quality control problems originated in Philadelphia. One of the most interesting events in the mint's history occurred on June 10, 1840, while Chief Coiner David Mason was at dinner. A run of Half Eagles was being made and, upon returning to work from dinner, Mason discovered that "through neglect or otherwise," the reverse die had slipped a quarter turn, so that the "heads of the devices stand quartering." It is not known how many of the 1,887 Half Eagles minted that day had the rotated reverse, but examples are known today which have the reverse rotated 120 degrees counterclockwise.

Dahlonega Mint Gold Issues

Dahlonega Gold Dollars

When the Gold Dollar was first introduced in 1849, the Dahlonega Branch Mint immediately took part in its production. Some 21,588 examples were minted in Dahlonega in that first year of issue, and that was to prove the highest mintage figure for Dahlonega Gold Dollars. Production continued through 1861, with all three types of Gold Dollars being produced. The smallest recorded mintage occurred in 1856, when a mere 1,460 pieces were made.

Dahlonega Quarter Eagles

In 1839, the Dahlonega Mint struck Quarter Eagles of the Classic Head motif designed by William Kneass. This issue is unique in that the "D" mintmark appears on the obverse below the bust of Liberty and the date. On all subsequent issues, the mintmark appears on the reverse. The Classic Head design was replaced in 1840 with Christian Gobrecht's Liberty Head or "Coronet" motif. With the lone exception of 1858, the Dahlonega Mint struck these Quarter Eagles annually through 1859. The largest mintage of Quarter Eagles, just 36,209 coins, occurred in 1843. A miniscule 874 Quarter Eagles were struck in 1856.

Dahlonega $3 Gold

The rare $3 Gold Indian Princess was introduced in 1854 and that was the only year in which the Dahlonega Mint produced that gold denomination. A total of just 1,120 coins were minted.

Dahlonega Half Eagles

The Dahlonega Branch Mint began operations in 1838 minting Half Eagles of William Kneass' Classic Head Type. The $5 denomination was the one in greatest demand amongst miners and prospectors. Just 20,583 Half Eagles were produced that first year. Like the Classic Head Quarter Eagle, the Classic Head Half Eagle is unique in that it bears the mintmark on the obverse, as opposed to the reverse on all subsequent designs. Christian Gobrecht's Liberty design replaced the Classic Head design in 1839. Mintage figures for Dahlonega Half Eagles are generally higher than those for the other three denominations produced there. They range from a high of 98,452 in 1843 to just 1,597 in the last year of operations, 1861.

Special Rare Opportunities: "One Year Type Coins"

The Dahlonega Mint issues include many significant rarities that are coveted by investors and collectors to this day. Chief among these are so-called "One-Year Type Coins," which are single-issue coins that rank among the rarest gold coins on the market today.

Dahlonega Mint One-Year Type Coins

1855 Type II Gold Dollar-1855 was the only year in which Dahlonega minted Type II Gold Dollars.

1839 $2.50 Quarter Eagle-This issue was the only Classic Head design Quarter Eagle struck in Dahlonega. In 1840, the Classic Head design was replaced by Christian Gobrecht's Liberty or "Coronet" motif.

1854 $3 Indian Princess-Not only was 1854 the only year the $3 gold piece was struck in Dahlonega, but it was also the first year of production overall for the $3 denomination.

1838 $5 Half Eagle-This issue was the only Classic Head design Half Eagle struck in Dahlonega. Like the Quarter Eagle, the Classic Head design on the Half Eagle gave way to the Liberty design.

Rare-Even in Their Own Day

Not only are Dahlonega issues generally significant due to their origin and the circumstances surrounding their minting, many issues are among the rarest in all of numismatics. Some are rare due to heavy circulation and attrition, which resulted in low survival rates. Others were rare the day they left the Mint because of very low mintage runs.

Dahlonega Mint-Examples of Extremely Low Mintage Issues

While the issues listed in the table above represent some of the smaller mintage runs, none of the 58 Dahlonega mintage runs was large. In fact, no single issue was minted in a quantity of even 100,000 pieces. The largest mintage run was just 98,452 pieces (the 1843-D $5 Half Eagle). If you compare even this number to most other issues, especially those at other mint facilities, you will find that it is not at all large. (For example, the modern U.S. Mint in Philadelphia mints as many as 80 million coins per day!)

Dahlonega Branch Mint Mintage Figures

Dahlonega Old Set Building Strategies

Historically, some of the greatest profits in coin investing have been achieved by collectors-people for whom profit was not the original motive at all. Why? Because collectors buy coins according to a plan. They have a specific goal in mind and each acquisition is designed to bring them a step closer to that goal by enhancing the value of their current holdings.

The chief strategy that collectors use is set building. Set building makes sense for a collector from a practical standpoint because each and every coin that a collector needs almost never surfaces at the same time. Moreover, few of us have the budget to buy everything we want all at once-even if an entire set is available. Set building also makes sense for investors because complete sets of rare coins are often worth more than the sum of their parts. This is because complete sets often command a premium at auction or from experienced numismatists in recognition of the time and effort needed to put together a complete set.

There are many set building opportunities in Southern Branch Mint Gold; some extend across issues from all three mints, others are exclusive to one of the mints. There are several set building opportunities available within Dahlonega Gold.

The Dahlonega Gold Denomination Set

One very attractive Dahlonega Set is a set of one example from each of the four denominations produced at Dahlonega: the Gold Dollar, the $2.50 Quarter Eagle, the $3 Indian Princess, and the $5 Half Eagle. Of course, the $3 Indian Princess was only minted in 1854 and only 1,120 were produced, so, from a practical standpoint, it is customary to build this set without this issue with just the Gold Dollar, the $2.50 Quarter Eagle and the $5 Half Eagle.

Another more advanced opportunity is to purchase each of these three coins with the same date. It is possible to build such a set with the dates ranging from 1849 to 1857 and 1859. If you want to include the $3 Indian Princess, you are obviously restricted to 1854.

The Dahlonega Gold Type Set

There were eight type coins struck at the Dahlonega Mint. This set includes an example of each and, though it requires extreme patience to build, is one of numismatics' major historical treasures that tells the entire story of the Dahlonega Mint.

Complete Denomination Sets

Some investors and collectors prefer to concentrate on one denomination and Dahlonega Gold offers some attractive, and challenging, opportunities:

Dahlonega Gold Dollar Set: a 13-coin set made up of an example of each gold dollar minted in Dahlonega.

Dahlonega Quarter Eagle Set: a 20-coin set made up of an example of each Quarter Eagle minted in Dahlonega.

Half Eagle Set: a 24-coin set made up of an example of each Half Eagle minted in Dahlonega.

The Complete Dahlonega Gold Set

This 58-coin set is made up of an example of each coin minted at Dahlonega from 1838 to 1861. Believe it or not, for a collector or investor with the means-and the patience-this set is still achievable today.

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