Object Details
- mint
- Bechtlers
- obverse designer
- Bechtler, Alt Christoph
- reverse designer
- Bechtler, Alt Christoph
- Description (Brief)
- One (1) 5 dollar coin
- United States, 1834
- Obverse Image: N/A
- Obverse Text: CAROLINA GOLD. / CARATS. / AUGUST 1. 1834. / 140 / .G. / 20.
- Reverse Image: Star.
- Reverse Text: C. BECHTLER. AT RUTHERF: / 5 DOLLARS.
- Description
- Like Templeton Reid, a family of German immigrants named Bechtler established a private mint to coin gold between 1830 and 1852. The head of the clan, Alt Christoph, started out in the Black Forest area where he was apprenticed as a goldsmith, silversmith, and gunsmith.
- Already well into middle age, he decided to seek his fortune in America. The early spring of 1830 found him and his family in Rutherfordton, North Carolina, where they set up shop as jewelers and watchmakers. The shortage of coinage in that part of the South, the abundance of gold from the new discoveries, the near-impossibility of getting it safely to the Mint at Philadelphia, and Alt Christoph's experience as a metallurgist, set the conditions for an important event.
- When local settlers were unsuccessful in petitioning Congress to establish a branch Mint, Alt Christoph created a private mint. He made his dies, punches, even his presses, himself. His coins were simple affairs, but they were of honest weight and good quality. His first gold coins began making their appearance in the summer of 1831.
- Alt Christoph ran the Bechtler mint until 1840. He then retired, and the operation was taken over by his son, August, remaining at work until about 1852, when it finally closed. To the Bechtlers goes the distinction of issuing the first gold dollars. They were doing so as early as 1834; the federal government didn't get around to striking the denomination until 1849!
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- United States Mint
- 1834
- ID Number
- 1991.0357.0143
- catalog number
- 1991.0357.0143
- accession number
- 1991.0357
- Object Name
- coin
- Physical Description
- gold (overall metal)
- 0 (overall die axis)
- 0 (overall die axis measurement)
- struck (overall production method)
- Measurements
- overall: .15 cm x 2.48 cm; 1/16 in x 31/32 in
- place of issue
- United States: North Carolina
- Related Publication
- Zoomable Image and Details
- Glossary of Coins and Currency Terms
- Related Web Publication
- http://americanhistory.si.edu/coins/glossary.cfm
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: National Numismatic Collection
- Coins
- Numismatics
- Coins, Currency and Medals
- Legendary Coins
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_1101234
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a9-88a2-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
