Goldberg Coins and Collectibles

Sale 57

Pre-Long Beach Coin and Currency Auction

Territorial Gold Coins

Lot	Photo	Description	Realized
Lot 2719		1849 $5 Norris Reeded Edge. NGC graded EF-45. Norris Gregg and Norris. Reeded Edge. Nice even orange-gold toning. Intensely pleasing smooth surfaces with balanced, even wear on the devices (the 5 which occupies the highest point of the shield on the eagle's breast, only partly visible due to wear). The dusky golden gold color is all original with no signs of heavy handling or discoloration in its passage through the years. Rims are choice. Pop 4; 25 finer. Estimated Value $8,000 - 9,000. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $10,350
Lot 2720		1855 $20 Kellogg. NGC graded AU-55. Kellogg. Well struck with a few marks here and there. Lustrous golden surface which has strong detail from the main devices. The above-average strike complements this historic angle of this desirable Territorial issue. Some might say, adds immeasurably to the appearance. Liberty's features include needle-sharp detail on all hair waves, a clear coronet with pearl-lined border on which is inscribed in clear letters KELLOG & CO, the issuer. Thirteen complete stars surround. Date below bust. Scattered marks on the face and one in the hair; a small rim bruise above the 7th star. The reverse has a more matte-like appearance instead of smooth luster, with this side showing its intricate detail though the legends are less crisp appearing, possibly the die had been working too long and was ready to be replaced. Reading from the Dr. Donald Kagin reference work on Territorial Gold coins, a must-have for any numismatic library, we learn that: With the imminent opening of the San Francisco Mint, the United States Assay Office ceased operations on December 14, 1853. At that time no private firms were coining gold. The United States Assay Office, under contract to Messrs. Curtis and Perry, was being reconverted to house the authorized United States Branch Mint. The only coins that were still circulated were Assay Office $50, $20, and $10 coins, along with the Moffat & Co. issues. The closing of the Assay Office, the lack of private firms issuing coins, the shortage of coins surviving the early issues, and the exportation of what coins there were led to a disastrous financial situation in California before the branch mint opened. It was under these conditions that John G. Kellogg and G. F. Richter, cashier and assayer of Curtis, Perry and Ward, were implored by California bankers to open their own assaying office on December 19, 1853. The firm issued its private gold coins on February 9, 1854. These were $20 pieces which Kellogg claimed his firm could issue at the rate of $20,000 worth per day. The dies for the coins, which greatly resembled those of the United States issues, probably were cut by Kuner. When the United States Branch Mint finally opened on April 3, 1854, its operations were erratic. Owing to constant shortages of alloy and parting acids, it ceased production several times. As a result, the coining business of Kellogg & Richter soon assumed very large proportions with about $6 million of the $20 pieces being issued. Under the circumstances, these new coins were almost universally accepted. Issues continued into 1855 before the San Francisco Mint came on stream. Pop 13; 26 finer (PCGS # 8914) . Estimated Value $8,000 - 8,500. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $9,775
Lot 2721		Christopher Bechtler, ONE DOLLAR N. CAROLINA, 30 gr. Star. NGC graded XF Details, scratches. Lightly toned and overall, quite a decent example. Popular and always in demand as the first gold dollar produced in the United States from natively mined ore. Estimated Value $1,200 - 1,300. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $1,553
Lot 2722		Christopher Bechtler (1837-42) $2.50 CAROLINA, 67 gr. 21 carats. . Breen-7753, K-10. NCS graded AU Details, repaired, improperly cleaned. Well worth our conservative estimate. A rare denomination. Here is an affordable example of this usually expensive coin, the surfaces show moderate circulation ticks visible with a glass, but nothing heavy or deep. Near the devices, the coin retains some of its mint freshness, and appears to be well struck on the lettering and devices. It is generally accepted that the first recorded discovery of gold by European settlers in America occurred in 1799, in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. According to reports, Conrad Reed, a boy at the time, found a 17-pound nugget in a creek on his father's farm. Incredibly, the family used the huge nugget as a doorstop until 1802, when it was sold to a jeweler for $3.50. Eventually word got out about the true worth of the gold doorstop, initiating the nation's first gold rush. The Georgia portion of the Appalachian gold belt went unappreciated until Benjamin Parks discovered gold in 1828, in the area near which the town of Dahlonega would be settled. The region produced prodigious amounts of gold ore for those days, creating a need for local mints to refine the metal and turn it into specie. The Bechtlers were the most prolific private coiners. They operated their North Carolina mint from 1830 to 1852. Estimated Value $5,000 - 6,000. View details and enlarged photos	Unsold
Lot 2723		Christopher Bechtler, $2.50 GEORGIA, 64 gr. 22 carats. NGC graded AU Details, plugged. This is the variety with the uneven 22. Expertly plugged near the rim. Estimated Value $3,000 - 4,000. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $2,070
Lot 2724		Christopher Bechtler, $2.50 GEORGIA, 64 gr. 22 carats - even 22. NGC graded AU Details, scratches, improperly cleaned. We note the fine old scratches yet the surfaces are quite pleasing with a mixture of mint luster and some rose color toning. Very rare and easily worth our conservative estimate. Estimated Value $8,000 - 9,000. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $9,775
Lot 2725		August Bechtler, 5 DOLLARS CAROLINA, 134 gr. 21 carats. . Breen 7766, K-26. PCGS graded EF-45. Attractive antique golden toning. This is a pleasing example of Kagin-26, one of the more available varieties, and provides an excellent entry coin for the casual collector to acquire a Bechtler gold coin, an early private minter whose operations overlapped the Federal minting operations in North Carolina in the first half of the 19th century. It appears that the strike was bold, with only a few letters showing any type of weakness. A small indent occurs below the A of CAROLINA and there is a minor planchet flake on the other side above the R of BECHTLER near the rim visible at 2 o'clock. In our discussion, the obverse is the side with 134 G and the star; the reverse has the denomination. The design of this piece is simplicity personified: inscriptions only. There are no special design features like an eagle or Liberty profile (PCGS # 10046) . Estimated Value $6,000 - 7,000. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $8,625
Lot 2726		1849 Norris, Gregg & Norris (San Francisco) $5 Gold. Plain edge. NGC graded Unc Details. Bent The surfaces are quite amazing exhibiting full mint frost and a touch of natural tone about the devices. NGC's designation of "Bent" actually refers to a pinch on the obverse rim at 4:30 and a corresponding flaw on the reverse. We suspect that this was possibly done at the mint. A decidely rare coin in such high grade and easily worth our conservative estimate. According to the Kagin reference on this rare Territorial gold piece: The first company answering the plea for a coinage in California is generally believed to have been Norris, Gregg, & Norris. Historian Edgar H. Adams claims they were first on the grounds that they were the first coiners to be cited in the California newspapers. The firm is also the first company mentioned in Eckfeldt and Dubois' book, New Varieties of Gold and Silver Coins (1850). Some private gold coiners, however, never were cited in California papers. Any one of them could have issued products prior to those from Norris, Gregg, & Norris. There is a possibility that Bowie & Company and Meyers & Company might have preceded Norris, Gregg & Norris. On May 31, 1849, in the first known reference to private coinage to appear in any of the California papers, the editors of the Alta California observed: "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, but it bears the private stamp of "Norris, Grieg & Norris", and is in other particulars widely different." Estimated Value $7,000 - 8,000. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $6,325
Lot 2727		1849 Norris, Gregg & Norris (San Francisco) $5 Gold. Reeded edge. NGC graded AU Details, mount removed. The mount removed is at 12 o'clock and the surfaces are somewhat pebbled. Always in demand as the first of the California private gold coins. Bright greenish yellow gold color. Despite the fact that the identity of the N.G.N. named on the coin was unknown until 1902, when Augustus Humbert's own specimen sold at auction, modern numismatists recognize the historic importance of this coin, believed by many to be the very first gold circulation issue struck during the Gold Rush. Estimated Value $3,500 - 4,500. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $3,105
Lot 2728		1849 Moffat & Co. (San Francisco) $5 Gold. NGC graded AU Details, mount removed, tooled. Reeded Edge. Burnished surfaces on both sides. Moffat & Co., who were doing an assaying and gold brokerage business in San Francisco during the summer of 1849, issued rectangular ingots of gold, which passed current in place of circular coins. In the latter part of July or the first of August, a circular $10 piece bearing their private stamp, the first of that denomination to be struck in California and the second coins to be made in the state from the native gold by private coiners appeared. Soon thereafter followed this 1849 $5 denomination. Estimated Value $1,500 - 1,800. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $1,323
Lot 2729		1850 Moffat & Co. (San Francisco) $5 Gold. NGC graded AU Details, reverse tooled. Nice and bold with original antique rose color toning adhering about the devices on both sides. The "chasing" is expertly done. Moffat had a prolific mint in San Francisco in 1849-50. After the 1849 and 1850 $5 and $10 issues, Moffat & Co. ceased their own coinage with but one exception. This took place in 1852 with the issuance of a $10 gold piece (the 1853 $20 coins labeled MOFFAT & CO. are not private issuances and properly are categorized under the coinage of the U.S. Assay Office). Estimated Value $1,500 - 1,800. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $1,898
Lot 2730		1849 Moffat & Co. (San Francisco) TEN DOL. NGC graded AU Details, repaired, improperly cleaned. The area of repair is around stars 1 and 2 and in front of the face. The reverse is quite nice, even exhibits traces of original mint luster. Easily worth our conservative estimate. Estimated Value $3,000 - 3,500. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $3,680
Lot 2731		1849 Moffat & Co. (San Francisco) TEN DOL. PCGS graded Fine-12. Honest even wear with nice clean rims all, lightly toned. Portions of the company logo MOFFAT & CO still visible on Liberty's coronet. Pop 1; 29 finer (PCGS # 10246) . Estimated Value $2,800 - 3,000. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $2,990
Lot 2732		1851 U.S. Assay Office $50 "slug", 880 THOUS. Lettered edge, no 50 on reverse. PCGS graded EF-40. Humbert. Nice for the grade. Light reverse scratches. A classy coin and a well struck one by any benchmark. What's more, this has an engaging look because of its wide rim area (much of the lettering that would appear on the obverse of the coins in the alternative design are placed on the edge. The eagle is well defined, as is the shield it holds. Where wear occurs is, as always, on the highest portion of the design. The denomination reads 50 D [BLANK] C, with the 50 incuse, having been entered with a punch by the pressman after the coin was struck. An historic relic of a period almost completely forgotten by contemporary Americans. The California Gold rush produced reams of articles and literature in its day, a whole host of interesting and controversial Territorial Gold coins, and a reminder of what it must have been live the life of a pioneer in those far off days. Pop 4; 37 finer (PCGS # 10196) . The Humbert and Assay Office pieces more or less were the cause of the disappearance of the earlier California territorial gold coins from circulation once they came on stream in 1851. In 1849 and 1850, California mints such as Norris, Gregg & Norris, Pacific Company and the Miner's Bank provided the contemporary gold pieces. These turned out to be light weight upon assaying and a scandal ensued. The bankers refused to accept them except with a discount. Most of these early territorial gold coins were melted at the Assay office which turned them into more acceptable $50 ingots or "slugs" as they were known. By late 1851, these $50 pieces dominated commerce. Due to their high value and the limited number of small denomination gold coins in circulation, business was done under very difficult circumstances. Change for the cumbersome slugs consisted of foreign coins for the most part, which traded above their bullion value. (At the time, privately issued paper money wasn't acceptable in California the way it was in other areas of the country.). Estimated Value $30,000 - 35,000. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Unsold