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An article about the 1848 CAL. quarter eagle.

BillJonesBillJones Posts: 33,767 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited January 15, 2017 9:13AM in U.S. Coin Forum

I wrote this article a few years ago for my local club's newsletter. There has been some discussion of late about the sources of gold for coinage in The United States. This article gives some detail about the first shipment of California gold that was made into U.S. coins.


The 1848 CAL Quarter Eagle
America’s First Commemorative Coin
By Bill Jones **(Alll rights reserved)
**
In January of 1848 James Marshall, who was an employee of John Sutter, discovered gold in the race of a sawmill that was under construction on Sutter’s property near Coloma, California. (Coloma is located about 36 miles northeast of the state capitol, Sacramento.) The men soon discovered additional gold deposits further upstream, and it was found that there was more gold in the area. Sutter and his men tried to keep their discovery a secret, but that was impossible. By spring dozens of prospectors were looking for gold with tools that ranged from a simple metal pan to a primitive trough-like device called a cradle.
In Monterey, California Colonel Richard B. Mason, who was the military governor of the U.S. territory, viewed the developments with concern and interest. “Gold fever” had prompted many of the enlisted men in his unit to desert their posts and head for the gold fields in search of wealth. In addition, men who had been engaged in almost every profession from farming to office clerk had left their jobs “to strike it rich.” Mason decided that the time had come to report the news of the California bonanza to his superiors and provide them with some physical evidence of the gold strike.
In July Mason and his chief aid, Lieutenant William Sherman, selected four good soldiers and other support personnel and set out for the Sacramento Valley. Over the following weeks they purchased 13 samples of gold from the miners in the area and carefully marked on a map where those samples had been obtained. In August Mason combined those samples, along with an “oyster can” full of gold that Mason purchased from the San Francisco Custom House for the depressed price of $10 an ounce. He packed the entire deposit into a tea caddy.
Mason selected Lieutenant Lucien Loeser to take the box, which contained 230 ounces of gold, to Washington, DC, and asked Lieutenant Sherman to write a report about the California discoveries. Sixteen years later Lieutenant William T. Sherman, by then a Union general, would emblazon his name into the history books with his famous or for some infamous "March to the Sea" across Georgia toward the end of the Civil War.
Lieutenant Loeser set out on his journey on August 30. The first leg of Loeser’s trip took him from San Francisco to Payta, Peru. There he boarded another ship that took him to Panama, which he crossed on horseback, to board a ship on the Atlantic side of the isthmus. From there he steamed to Kingston, Jamaica where he embarked on another ship to New Orleans, Louisiana. From there Loeser probably took the quickest route to Washington, DC. That journey began by traveling by steamer from New Orleans to Montgomery, Alabama. From there he traveled on local coaches and railroads to central Georgia, probably Atlanta, and then proceeded by rail to Washington, DC where he arrived on December 7. Overall the trip from the West Coast to Washington, DC had taken three months and one week.
Two days before Loeser's arrival, President James K. Polk announced in his annual message to Congress that, “Recent discoveries render probable that these (gold) mines are more extensive and valuable than was anticipated.” This statement combined with the display of the box of gold in Secretary of War, W.L. Marcy’s office set off a frenzy of interest.
War Secretary Marcy sent a letter to Mint Director R. M. Patterson in which he asked to the director to convert the almost 231 ounces of gold into two gold medals that were to be awarded to Mexican War heroes, Generals Zackary Taylor and Winfield Scott, one or two small gold bars, and some quarter eagles with a distinguishing mark. Marcy anticipated that some people would like to have a sample from the first gold shipment from California that was delivered to the Philadelphia mint. He thought that citizens would be eager to trade ordinary gold coins to obtain the California quarter eagles at face value.
As it happened a second gold shipment from California arrived a short time after Lieutenant Loeser delivered his chest. Gold from that second shipment would be used to produce the two medals that were awarded to Generals Taylor and Scott.
In the mean time the Philadelphia mint personnel began their assignment. As was quite often the case the California gold contained silver that had to be parted from the body of the ore. After that the gold was alloyed with copper, formed into ingots and rolled into sheets from which the planchets were cut. After the coins were struck, there was one more step. Using the obverse coin die as an anvil, each coin was counterstamped with the letters “CAL.” above the eagle on the reverse. The use of the obverse die as an anvil prevented the flat spot that would have resulted on the coin had the counterstamp been applied on a smooth surface.
As the year came to a close, Secretary Marcy was becoming impatient with the time it was taking to produce the quarter eagles. He sent his chief clerk, Archibald Campbell, to Philadelphia to investigate the situation. Marcy stated that if quarter eagles were ready, the mint personnel could hand them over to Campbell. Campbell returned to Washington empty handed.
On January 5, 1849 Mint Director Patterson sent Secretary Marcy a letter that would confirm the importance of the 1848 CAL. quarter eagles for generations of coin collectors. Patterson stated that during the normal course of business the mint would have supplied the quarter eagles to a depositor as soon as the facility received the gold. In this case, however, Marcy had requested that the same gold that had been deposited was be used in the coins. This request had created the delay. The need to part the silver from the gold and apply the CAL. counterstamp had prolonged the process. At long last the coins were ready for delivery.
Although the mint did not record the mintage for the 1848 CAL. gold coins, it has been estimated from the available evidence that 1,389 pieces were produced. Although a small number of the coins were saved, the vast majority of them went into circulation. It has been estimated that less than 200, perhaps no more than 160, of these coins survive today. Among that group less than 40 meet the standards for the Mint State grade.
Today the 1848 CAL. quarter eagle is one of the most desirable U.S. coins. Many numismatists view it as the first United States commemorative coin because it marked the receipt of the initial shipments of gold from California to a United States mint. In addition the coin does not just commemorate that event. The coins were made from the actual gold that was shipped from California to the Philadelphia mint. No other U.S. commemorative coin has such a close relationship to the event that it marks.

Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?

Comments

  • msch1manmsch1man Posts: 809 ✭✭✭✭

    Great article...thanks for sharing. You're quarter eagle isn't half bad either ;) .

  • A great read Bill, and another excellent history lesson. If I might borrow from your last line, to my knowledge no other U.S. coin collector has such a close relationship with the actual history of his coins as Bill Jones. Thanks for posting and teaching.

  • topstuftopstuf Posts: 14,803 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I WANT ONE!
    I missed one that Kagin's had but it was in the holder that I don't care a lot for.

    After buying the 1801 $10, I'll have to save up my Social Security.

    Or.....sell some bullion. :'(

    AAGGHHHH.....choices.

  • ms70ms70 Posts: 13,951 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Thanks for sharing that Bill. Extremely interesting!

    Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.

  • goldengolden Posts: 9,368 ✭✭✭✭✭

    That is one coin that I have wanted for a long time.

  • RogerBRogerB Posts: 8,852 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The San Francisco merchants of the time agreed to accept the best native gold at $16 per troy ounce. Lesser quality - more black sand, or of questionable/lower purity - were accepted at lower rates including $10 per ounce. None of these were for 0.999 fine gold which was almost never seen until the mint and private refiners opened.

  • JustacommemanJustacommeman Posts: 22,847 ✭✭✭✭✭

    That's a scarce and wonderful piece of the West. Awesome

    mark

    Walker Proof Digital Album
    Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
  • northcoinnorthcoin Posts: 4,987 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 16, 2017 7:19PM

    And may I add an additional footnote to that most interesting account. Apparently the U.S. Mint's James Longacre was the individual who "designed" or otherwise implemented the CAL designation. In his estate auction there were two CAL quarter eagles of apparently First Strike quality (believed today to have been misnomered as "proofs" in the auction listing) that strongly support the Longacre connection.

    Longacre was also responsible for the Double Eagle which was first minted for circulation in 1850. Similarly Longacre still had at the time of his death one 1850 Double Eagle of similar "Proof/First Strike" quality which has been opined by numismatic author and researcher Karl Moulton to be the specimen in my possession that in its holder is attributed to Dr. C.W. Green. - as pictured below.

    Interestingly another similar specimen of the Longacre Designed 1850 Double Eagle has been identified as in the possession of a Paris museum. That specimen has been seen by our own host, David Hall and he has described it as a "cleaned" PR-61. The designation given mine by Larry Briggs was a PR-62. (At this point I have been in contact with the museum's "Conservateur" Jerome Jambu, with regard to having the two coins compared side-by-side although that will require a trip to Paris at some undetermined time in the future.)

    It appears likely that Longacre had initially retained two 1850 Double Eagles of his design and of "Proof/First Strike" quality, just as he had retained the two CAL Quarter Eagle "Proof/First Strikes." In both instances these may well have been the first two coins of each to be minted, (the single sole surviving 1849 Pattern Proof Double Eagle which now resides in the Smithsonian excepted.)

  • ZoinsZoins Posts: 34,113 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 15, 2017 3:01PM

    The 1848 CAL quarter eagle is my favorite US commemorative coin. It's amazing how long it took for news to go from coast to coast back then. Great info Bill!

    When looking up information on the US Gold Rush, I recently came across the Foreign Miners’ Tax which was apparently used to drive out American citizens of Latino descent and Chinese immigrants from participating in the gold rush. I'm now curious if there are any tax tokens or other exonumia related to the tax similar to other tax tokens. Here's more from Wikipedia.

  • DDRDDR Posts: 1,580 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Great article, I have always wanted to own one of those. Thanks for posting.

  • kazkaz Posts: 9,131 ✭✭✭✭✭

    An amazing piece of U.S. history; thanks for the post & photos Bill.

  • OnlyGoldIsMoneyOnlyGoldIsMoney Posts: 3,341 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Super 1848 CAL. Bill. I hope to own one someday.

    1848 no CAL. examples are scarce as well, especially in MS.

  • LakesammmanLakesammman Posts: 17,344 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Bill:

    Enjoyed reading that again - great history!

    Would love to see the Longacre pieces. Wonder if the provenance and current whereabouts are known?

    "My friends who see my collection sometimes ask what something costs. I tell them and they are in awe at my stupidity." (Baccaruda, 12/03).I find it hard to believe that he (Trump) rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world. (Putin 1/17) Gone but not forgotten. IGWT, Speedy, Bear, BigE, HokieFore, John Burns, Russ, TahoeDale, Dahlonega, Astrorat, Stewart Blay, Oldhoopster, Broadstruck, Ricko.
  • LakesammmanLakesammman Posts: 17,344 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Interesting how infrequently these are offered at auction - in CoinFacts, only 1 in 2016.

    "My friends who see my collection sometimes ask what something costs. I tell them and they are in awe at my stupidity." (Baccaruda, 12/03).I find it hard to believe that he (Trump) rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world. (Putin 1/17) Gone but not forgotten. IGWT, Speedy, Bear, BigE, HokieFore, John Burns, Russ, TahoeDale, Dahlonega, Astrorat, Stewart Blay, Oldhoopster, Broadstruck, Ricko.
  • 2ltdjorn2ltdjorn Posts: 2,329 ✭✭✭✭

    I have always liked this issue. rich history.

    WTB... errors, New Orleans gold, and circulated 20th key date coins!
  • AMRCAMRC Posts: 4,266 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Thanks for the share, but now show us your coin! :-)

    MLAeBayNumismatics: "The greatest hobby in the world!"
  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 33,767 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The piece at the top of the article is my coin.

    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Great article Bill.... gold coins being my favorites, I find it particularly interesting. Quite the journey that shipment took... security was not described at all.... Cheers, RickO

  • krankykranky Posts: 8,709 ✭✭✭

    If I could only have one coin, it would be the 1848 CAL $2.50. That coin just oozes history. Loved the write up and the pic. Congrats on owning one!

    New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.

  • northcoinnorthcoin Posts: 4,987 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 16, 2017 7:16PM

    @kranky said:
    If I could only have one coin, it would be the 1848 CAL $2.50. That coin just oozes history. Loved the write up and the pic. Congrats on owning one!

    I guess I would have to go for the 1849 Double Eagle. Until then I will have to be content with my "First Strike/Proof" 1850 Double Eagle that as described in my post above may well have been the first 1850 Double Eagle minted.

    1849 DOUBLE EAGLE
    Key Date Coin History, Mintage, Value

    Background and History

    The 1849 Liberty Double Eagle is one of the most famous and valuable coins ever struck. Only a single example of this legendary rarity is known, although for more than a century there have been rumors of an additional specimen. The known coin is part of the National Numismatic Collection of the Smithsonian Institution and thus very unlikely to ever become available to collectors. Its estimated value is around 15 million dollars, although the price at auction could be substantially higher, thanks to the important status of this famous issue.

    The history of the coin starts in January 1848, when gold was discovered in the Sacramento River, located in the United States territory of California. Having only recently become part of the United States, California was sparsely settled at this time, although small groups of settlers came in every year via the Oregon Trail. This would all change after the first flakes of gold were discovered and the news reached the states along the eastern seaboard. A massive movement of people and supplies began, all headed west towards California. Thanks to the discovery of gold in California both the United States as well as its monetary system would never be the same again.

    .....

    Technically, the 1849 Double Eagle is a pattern, an experimental piece struck before issuance of a new design, or in this case of a new denomination. The design was made by James Barton Longacre, and eventually the Liberty Double Eagles would be minted in a somewhat modified form until the early 20th century. It all started, however, with the 1849 pattern. The coin is listed in all pattern references, as Judd-117 and Pollock-132, with both texts referring to it as a unique coin. This, however, does not necessarily have to be the case, as some researchers have contested. Walter Breen mentioned that not one but two pieces were struck on December 22, 1849 and supposedly the second piece was photographed for the catalog of the Steven K. Nagy collection, per Akers. This, however, remains unconfirmed and seems incorrect. Nagy passed away in 1958 and except for some unconfirmed rumors nobody seems to have known anything about a second 1849 Double Eagle. It might exist, although the chance is very small, and it seems extremely unlikely that after more than 100 years it would suddenly turn up. Strange things, however, have happened in numismatics before so the possibility is always there.

    .....

    There are a few minor differences between the 1849 Double Eagle in the Smithsonian Institution and the 1850 Double Eagles struck for circulation the following year at the Philadelphia Mint. Most importantly, the coin is in a slightly higher relief than any of the circulation strikes from later in the series. The placement of the stars is also slightly different as is the execution of some very small details of the design. Other than that the pattern piece is similar to later issues of the earliest Double Eagle type.

    Link for the full article:

    1849doubleeagle.org

  • LakesammmanLakesammman Posts: 17,344 ✭✭✭✭✭

    While I appreciate the history of many coins, to include the 1849 DE, the 1848 Cal. will hopefully stay in the "box of 20" for many years to come.

    Any gold rush fan can appreciate the history and significance behind it.

    "My friends who see my collection sometimes ask what something costs. I tell them and they are in awe at my stupidity." (Baccaruda, 12/03).I find it hard to believe that he (Trump) rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world. (Putin 1/17) Gone but not forgotten. IGWT, Speedy, Bear, BigE, HokieFore, John Burns, Russ, TahoeDale, Dahlonega, Astrorat, Stewart Blay, Oldhoopster, Broadstruck, Ricko.
  • northcoinnorthcoin Posts: 4,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Lakesammman said:

    Any gold rush fan can appreciate the history and significance behind it.

    Curious how many of us there are out there?

  • I'm a gold rush fan! I've collected photos (dags), letters, bottles, belt buckles, nuggets, from the Calif.
    gold rush era for years. Now I have become active again in coin collecting some pioneer gold coins would be in order. ($$$)
    Loved the CAL quarter eagle from the moment I read the history behind it.

  • thebeavthebeav Posts: 3,774 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Great write up Bill.
    Count me among those that have always wanted one.

  • KindaNewishKindaNewish Posts: 827 ✭✭✭✭✭

    This is what I love about this silly and expensive hobby, I get to learn.

  • topstuftopstuf Posts: 14,803 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 21, 2018 12:40PM

    @thebeav said:
    Great write up Bill.
    Count me among those that have always wanted one.

    They are cool :)

  • Timbuk3Timbuk3 Posts: 11,658 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Wonderful write-up. Thank you !!! :)

    Timbuk3
  • CryptoCrypto Posts: 3,557 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I find it interesting that the non cal 1848 might be rarer but the cal is a dream coin

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