As the Walls Crumble, Confederate Senate Considers Restarting Coinage at Charlotte--Dec. 1864

JCH22

The Branch mints were occupied by the Confederacy, and ordered closed to coinage. That is an interesting topic unto itself.

Charlotte was an important manufacturing city for the South. Its factories produced gunpowder, percussion caps, and medicine for the Confederacy. It was home to the Confederate Naval Ordnance Depot and Naval Works, and produced iron for ironclad ships, artillery shells and ammunition When Richmond fell, Jefferson Davis fled to Charlotte, the “Last Capitol of the Confederacy” (unofficial). Charlotte is rumored to have been one of the first stops for the “Lost Confederate Gold,”

By December 1864, the South’s prospects were beyond bleak. Atlanta had fallen in September, Lincoln was re-elected, Sherman was then in the process of his “March to the Sea,” and Petersburg had been besieged since June.

Despite the direness of the situation, on December 12, 1864, the Confederate Senate asked then Secretary of the Confederate Treasury, George Trenholm, to look into the feasibility of restarting mint operations at Charlotte.

Trenholm was an interesting figure in his own right, highly successful merchant and blockade runner. He also sought refuge in Charlotte after Richmond’s fall. He was arrested after the war on suspicion of embezzlement, and is a key figure in the lore of the “Lost Confederate Gold.”

His Response to the Confederate Senate’s inquiry followa:

Mr_Spud

Cool 😎

CharlotteDude

Great piece of history. Thank you for sharing!
I feel fortunate to have, as Trenholm notes, a few of the pieces that remained, and weren’t exported to be recoined (and lost forever).

Believe a thread like this could use some Charlotte gold examples.

JCH22

@CharlotteDude said:

,,,,,

Believe a thread like this could use some Charlotte gold examples.

Couldn't agree more --fantastic pieces!

golden

Very cool info!

Avocet

Great piece of history-- Thanks for sharing, and thanks to @CharlotteDude for sharing incredible examples!

Manifest_Destiny

RobertScotLover

Cool thread

OnlyGoldIsMoney

Some Charlotte $2.50's.

Sapyx

Yet another interesting piece of numismatic history.

I find it interesting the suggestion from Chairman Barnwell back in 1861, that, if Confederate coinage were to be issued at that time, rather than issue Confederate dollars (which were already starting to become inflated by 1861), they instead ought to "assimilate our coins to those of France" - in other words, he was proposing that the Confederacy join what would eventually become the Latin Monetary Union, of which France was the chief driver and proponent and which was actively recruiting other friendly nations to their cause at that time.

There are all kinds of "what-if" scenarios arising from that scenario. For example, a Confederacy in the LMU wouldn't have needed a native supply of bullion for adequate circulation coinage, but could simply have imported it from other LMU member-states. Of course, they'd have needed to achieve diplomatic recognition from the Latin Monetary Union member-states first.

JCH22

@OnlyGoldIsMoney said:
Some Charlotte $2.50's.

Thank you!

Just a general postscript to the CSA's attempts to reopen...... Below is 1873 Petition (Joint Resolution) by the North Carolina Legislature to reopen, which was filed in the House of Representatives,

calgolddiver

great read and thanks for sharing

ElmerFusterpuck

Cool post! My only 'C' in my collection:

SaorAlba

@Sapyx said:

There are all kinds of "what-if" scenarios arising from that scenario. For example, a Confederacy in the LMU wouldn't have needed a native supply of bullion for adequate circulation coinage, but could simply have imported it from other LMU member-states. Of course, they'd have needed to achieve diplomatic recognition from the Latin Monetary Union member-states first.

The Confederacy did have two native sources of gold, the Piedmont gold from N. Carolina and the gold mined in the Dahlonega area of Georgia. Those sources of mined gold were the whole reason for setting up branch mints in Charlotte and Dahlonega. Silver was imported from Latin America for use in the New Orleans mint. I believe the New Orleans mint also sourced gold from Latin America.