Over $3 million 1849 California gold received at the US Mints; less than $1,000 at Bank of England
RogerB
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This little letter offers perspective on the vast quantity of gold coming out of California less than a Year after the War Department’s first public report in December 1848.
“November 10, 1849
Thomas Biddle, Esq.
My dear Sir:
In answer to the inquiries which you have made, I present the following statements.
The value of California gold received at the Mint [Philadelphia], to the present time is $3,215,000.
Reported from the New Orleans Mint, to September last $260,561. Total $3,475,561.
The average fineness of the California gold received at this Mint may be stated at 891 thousandths.
Single instances have been found ranging from836 to 957, but ordinarily the fineness lies between 875 and 905 thousandths.
I shall be very happy to receive information on this subject from your correspondent in London, and to give his a return in kind.
R. M. Patterson”
The London correspondent, under date of Oct 19, states the Bank of England had received only £ 170 or £ 180 Sterling in California gold (less than $1,000).
[This letter is in NARA Entry-1 Box 28. Images of originals available at NNP.]
Comments
Thanks @RogerB.
“Single instances have been found ranging from836 to 957, but ordinarily the fineness lies between 875 and 905 thousandths.”
Is there any mention/idea of the contaminate material that prevents a greater purity of gold?
@RogerB....Why would there be California gold sent to England?? Cheers, RickO
RE: Impurities in CA gold. The most common impurity was silver which was a significant proportion of the non-gold content. This required CA gold to be parted and refined before it could be used for coinage. This extra step, versus simple melting and alloying when foreign coins were the gold source, delayed payment of depositors and created a problem surrounding what to do with the silver and how to give depositors full value while recovering the added parting expenses.
RE: CA gold to Britain. The Bank of England maintained an active market for gold from British colonies, and there were occasions when it was desirable to make West coast gold deposits in London. This was more of a problem with Southern US gold mining at least until the new mints at Dahlonega and Charlotte were in operation. A major difficulty with the Bank of England was that they only accepted refined gold. Anyone with native gold had to have it refined and cast into bars for the BoE to accept it and pass it on for coinage.
When the Branch Mint in California was opened, this drew substantial deposits from throughout the western continent and also Australia. The Mint was not only more convenient, but it accepted native gold dust, amalgam, silver and other high-gold content materials - no pre-deposit refining was needed and the Mint's sur-charge was very small. For many years, U.S. gold coinage was the standard in nearly all of Canada, U.S. and Baja California