A Collectors’ Perspective on Pioneer Gold
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First of all, we want to thank everyone for the great response to our first interview "A Collectors’ Perspective on the Coinage of Charles Barber"! Today, we are excited to bring you the next installment, "A Collectors’ Perspective on Pioneer Gold". We've included one question from the interview below and hope you'll check out the rest!
Q. I understand you collect Pioneer Gold coins. Can you explain what Pioneer Gold is, and why you have such a connection to it?
A. Pioneer Gold comes from a group of individuals who struck coins and provided a service when there was a major need. People like Norris, Kellogg, Moffat, and Baldwin, they were instrumental in keeping the economy of the West going. Individuals at this time didn’t trust paper; they wanted the hard asset. Prospectors and miners could take their dust and nuggets to be assayed, refined, and struck by these individuals. I think my connection to it comes from my personal family history. My third great-grandfather, William Henry Pratt, was a pioneer and set off by himself from the East Coast to go to the minefields. He was one of the early individuals to prospect, arriving in the [San Francisco] Bay Area in February of 1849. He became a major entrepreneur, owning stores, hotels, and was a marketer who became instrumental in building up the communities in Northern California. I am really big into family history, so having these coins that are a direct connection to my family is intriguing.
https://www.pcgs.com/news/collectors-perspective-on-pioneer-gold
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Comments
I’m personally a fan of southern gold, which was the original pioneer gold. Some hard to obtain gold tokens made before the branch mints. Heck, just getting the branch mints was a fight. The Appalachian gold rush was a big reason why so many went to that area in the late 1700s and early/mid 1800s. It also came with its own costs to native peoples and the environment.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
Love it! I have one humble example..
My YouTube Channel
My YouTube Channel
That is some awesome Carolina gold! When CV19 is largely in the rear view mirror and the economy a bit more stable, I’m planning on acquiring some good Charlotte gold. Maybe some Dahlonega. For some reason, I like Charlotte better.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
Is there a difference between pioneer and territorial? Pioneer western, territorial eastern?
Here is a piece of Pioneer Gold I once owned:
The story behind the origin of those minted by Brigham Young in Salt Lake City is interesting for the fact that the gold itself likely came from the stream at Sutter's Mill where the California Gold Rush began. Disbanded Mormon Battalion members were working for Sutter to assist him in building the mill when the gold was discovered. They were saving up money to go join their families who were arriving in Utah from their Pioneer treck. The gold they took with them to Salt Lake City was minted into gold pieces there with this example being from the first year of minting. Ten dollar and twenty dollar specimens were also minted with the $20 gold piece having the distinction of being the first $20 gold piece followed by the United States' own minting of the $20 Double Eagle that went into circulation in 1850 after a few 1849 proofs.
Here is more about the Mormon Battalion from Wikipedia:
The Mormon Battalion, the only religion-based unit in United States military history, served from July 1846 – July 1847 during the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848.[1] The battalion was a volunteer unit of between 534 and 559 Latter-day Saint men, led by Mormon company officers commanded by regular U.S. Army officers. During its service, the battalion made a grueling march of nearly 2,000 miles from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to San Diego, California.
The battalion’s march and service supported the eventual cession of much of the American Southwest from Mexico to the United States, especially the Gadsden Purchase of 1853 of southern Arizona and New Mexico. The march also opened a southern wagon route to California. Veterans of the battalion played significant roles in America's westward expansion in California, Utah, Arizona and other parts of the West.
Below pictured is a photo of my 1850 dollar $20 U.S. minted gold piece that given its First Strike appearance and its having been attributed to initially have been in its designer James Longacre's estate may well be the first 1850 $20 minted. (There exists one other presently known Proof like, if not Proof, 1850 United States $20 Double Eagle which is located in a Paris Museum, but due to its acquired history it appears to have been minted at a later date in 1850 as a special presentation piece to be included in a mint set that eventually ended up in France.)
Thanks for the article. I have a few Pioneer gold coins that I have had for decades.
Agree. In reading the article there did not appear to be included the name of the collector being interviewed - can it be provided?
The interviewee's reference to the "gold dust" book that he acquired with the names of all the miners still providing gold to the San Francisco Mint in 1898 could be a valuable source of information that might shed some light on who was the burier of the San Francisco minted coins in the Saddle Ridge Hoard.
The most recent of the Saddle Ridge Hoard coins were dated 1894 so the miner hypothesized to have obtained many of the uncirculated coins contained in the Saddle Ridge Hoard from his gold deposits to the San Francisco Mint may well be on that list!
Let’s see them!
My YouTube Channel
To the OP - a PM would be welcomed.
I do not have any pioneer gold...may have to look into that segment of gold collecting. Thanks for the article... Cheers, RickO
I think Territorial is a misnomer, but the term caught on and was used in the numismatic realm for over a century so it stuck. Territorial would seem to imply coins struck specifically for use in a territory, which these are not. Many privately made issues show markings for where they were struck, like a mint mark.
IMO “pioneer” or “gold rush / private issue” are more accurate labels.
Just part of the joyful vagueness of the English language. I can remember when everything in the Redbook before the 1793 Half Cent was called "Colonial," even though large chunks of it came after 1776, or after 1781, or after 1783, or whenever you wish to recognize America's Independence and the end of the colonial era.
I recognize "Pioneer" and "Territorial" as interchangeable in common usage, and I recognize that others might disagree. If somebody discovered gold in Puerto Rico tomorrow and started issuing $50 slugs, they would be "Territorial" but not "Pioneer," and wouldn't that be fun???
Browsing Collector's Corner for California territorials.
Looks like a new player in dealers.
Minshull Trading. Not familiar but nice offerings.
https://www.collectorscorner.com/Products/Item.aspx?id=47475348
That's a lot of really decent inventory. Aa new player in the pioneer field?
Wish I did ... but I don't have any Pioneer gold.
In the strict sense, "territorial" means an area that has not yet become a state.
For Georgia and Carolina gold, they were minted during the statehood phase of those areas, so calling them "territorial" is not really accurate.
Some California gold could be called "territorial" if dated 1849. California became a state in 1850, so 1850 and later California gold isn't really "territorial".
All Colorado gold (Clark-Gruber, JJ Conway, John Parsons) could be considered territorial since Colorado did not become a state until 1876, long after private minting of gold ceased.
Sure, I see how the term could be used in that way, especially back when the U.S. was still adding states. As you pointed out, the narrower definition doesn't always fit. I like "pioneer", I think it fits the broader group people are usually referring to. To each his own, though.