Long Beach Pioneer NEWP

mvs7 · March 9, 2018 10:45AM

1849 Norris, Gregg & Norris $5. Plain edge. PCGS VF35/CAC.

The 1849 NG&N $5 with "San Francisco" is found with both a plain edge and a reeded edge. There is also a unique 1850 $5 with "Stockton" in place of San Francisco, currently in the Smithsonian according to the Red Book. See below for more history of this interesting coin.

One of the reasons I chose years ago to collect small denomination San Francisco gold was my interest in the history of the gold rush era. Moving recently from date/MM sets to a "box of 20" approach, it made sense to include a few pioneer coins into the planned group. I've always liked this design. Also, according to the SS Central America inventories, there were no NG&N $5s found recently (good), but plenty of Moffat/Baldwin/Assay Office pieces, so perhaps I'll get lucky and be able to acquire the next piece from there.

From Don Kagin's, "Private Gold Coins and Patterns of the United States," via CoinFacts.

History of the Norris, Gregg & Norris Gold Coins:
The first company answering the plea for a coinage in California is generally believed to have been Norris, Gregg, & Norris. Historian Edgar H. Adams claims they were first on the grounds that they were the first coiners to be cited in the California newspapers. The firm is also the first company mentioned in Eckfeldt and Dubois’ book, New Varieties of Gold and Silver Coins (1850). Some private gold coiners, however, never were cited in California papers. Any one of them could have issued products prior to those from Norris, Gregg, & Norris. There is a possibility that Bowie & Company and Meyers & Company might have preceded Norris, Gregg & Norris.

It has never been determined where in Benicia the first Norris, Gregg & Norris coins were minted... It is now believed that Norris, Gregg & Norris moved to Stockton from Benicia sometime in 1850... Significantly, in 1947 a specimen was found with the word STOCKTON on the die and dated 1850. This piece might very well have been made after Norris, Gregg & Norris moved from Benicia to Stockton.

The coins seem to have been well received by the general populace. An article by E. Sprague in the April 20, 1850, Stockton Times explained the necessity and desirability of the Norris coin. He further stated that the people and merchants were desirous of the issues and and that only gold dust brokers who wished to retain the depressed gold market and continue to reap high profits from reselling the gold at much higher market value were against the new coins which would raise the gold’s value to its proper level...

It is not known when Norris, Gregg & Norris ceased their operations, nor what the proprietors did afterwards... This company’s coins are not mentioned in later newspaper references to private coins, so that as early as 1851 they were no longer found in circulation in either the San Francisco or Sacramento areas.