Blue Ridge Country January/February 2023 - 28

CURIOS
FIRST U.S. $1 GOLD COIN WAS CAROLINA-MADE
Mountain Mints
of the 1800s
The pre-California gold rushes in North Carolina
and Georgia overwhelmed the Philadelphia mint
to the point that gold coins came to be stuck
here in the Southern Appalachians.
By DAVID MCCORMICK
T
he term " Gold Rush " likely first
evokes the mid-1800s in California,
where over the seven year period
of 1848-1855 nearly 300,000
people arrived to seek their fortunes.
In
this part of the world, " Gold Rush "
likely brings first to mind the 1828 rush in
the north Georgia mountains.
It's the combination of that rush, along
with an even earlier one-
spawned by John Reed's 1799
discovery of gold in the foothills
of North Carolina-that
by the 1830s was testing the
capability of the Philadelphia
Mint-the nation's only-
to turn out coinage for the
United States government. In
the 1830s, over 50 mines were
operating in North Carolina,
and north Georgia was home to
some 500 mines.
Adding to the challenge
was that miners often faced
difficulties in taking their gold
north to Philadelphia. The trek
by stage, in the saddle or for a
few, on foot was tedious; and it
could prove dangerous, as miners
risked losing their treasure to
armed highwaymen.
The
result was two new
mints-the first one not sanctioned
by the government.
Christopher Bechtler, an émigré
28 BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM
to Rutherford County, North Carolina,
from the Grand Duchy of Baden (later to
become part of Germany), had arrived in
the United States in 1829. Bechtler, a jeweler,
announced in the July 2, 1831 edition
of the North Carolina Spectator and Western
Advertiser, that his private mint was
now open. It would coin the miners' gold
into $1, $2.50 and $5 gold pieces.
Bechtler minted the nation's first $1
gold coin. Although not legally
sanctioned,
his
coins
were of high-carat gold, with
the degree of fineness stamped
upon the face-ranging from
20 to 22 carats.
By 1835, with the passage of
the Mint Act, an official southern
mint was to operate at
Dahlonega, Georgia. This mint
was the direct result of the government
requiring more coinage,
with the Philadelphia Mint having
apparently met capacity.
Beginning in 1838, the Georgia
mint turned out $1, $2.50, $3
and $5 gold coins. During the decade
of the 1840s Georgia's production
of gold oscillated. But an
influx of Georgia miners returning
from the gold fields of California
caused a new surge at the Dahlonega
Mint. Between 1838 and 1861,
the north Georgia mint turned
out $6 million in gold into U. S.
coinage, stamped with a " D " to
delineate where it was minted. (The Denver
Mint's " D " did not appear until 1906.)
The North Carolina and Dahlonega
mints were relatively short-lived. Bechtler's
was shuttered in the late 1840s while the
Georgia government mint continued operations
until 1861, when the winds of war
closed its doors.
Today the Bechtler mint site and his
home are part of a new North Carolina
Gold Trail & Bechtler Heritage Center. The
Bechtler site is comprised of a small park
with a short loop walking trail and information
boards. In 1997 the Bechtler Mint
site was listed on the National Register of
Historic Places.
The main building of the Dahlonega
Mint was fire destroyed in 1878. Price Memorial
Building of North Georgia College
& State University sits upon the remnants
of the mine. Visitors can view the ruins of
the mint through a glass panel. A historical
marker tells of the site's history.
ABOVE: North Georgia's U.S.-sanctioned
Dahlonega Mint building, shown here in the
late 1870s, was opened to supplement the
original U.S. mint at Philadelphia.
LEFT, FROM TOP: Christopher Bechtler
arrived in the U.S. in 1829, and by 1831 had
opened a private mint in Rutherford County,
North Carolina. Below are several of the gold
coins he minted, including the first U.S. $1 gold
coin.
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Blue Ridge Country January/February 2023

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