How close was Charlotte to minting silver coinage?

savoyspecial · July 5, 2026 7:26PM

I recently ran across this document showing passage within the state legislature

oldabeintx · July 5, 2026 8:25PM

Interesting to see how far their representatives and Senators got, if legislation was ever introduced in Congress.

KindaNewish · July 5, 2026 9:00PM

What an amazing find!

johnny9434 · July 5, 2026 10:02PM

Interesting, I like

CaptHenway · July 5, 2026 11:26PM

Did the mines produce any appreciable quantity of silver that could be used? Most native gold deposits did contain some silver, the the Mints in 1839 could not part it from the gold cost effectively, and so they just left it in the coinage.

BillJones · July 6, 2026 3:06AM

@CaptHenway said:
Did the mines produce any appreciable quantity of silver that could be used? Most native gold deposits did contain some silver, the the Mints in 1839 could not part it from the gold cost effectively, and so they just left it in the coinage.

I’ve read that the Charlotte and Dahlonega Mints did produce some silver in their refining process. The resulting silver bars were shipped to the Philadelphia Mint.

I don’t imagine that it was enough silver to make much of a dent in the coin shortage. Foreign coins were still legal tender in the United States in 1839. The first Philadelphia Mint had been woefully inadequate to serve the nation’s needs, and the second Philadelphia Mint was just getting up to the technology of the time with steam driven presses. England had been using them for almost 40 years.

I don’t imagine that this proposal got very far in Congress. It would have involved shipping silver to Charlotte to supply a small mint which didn’t have that much capacity. Furthermore the Charlotte mint personnel would have needed to step up their game. The Charlotte coins, especially the dollars and $2.50 coins were not that well made. They seemed to have had a hard time calibrating their presses.

johnny9434 · July 6, 2026 3:20AM

@BillJones said:

@CaptHenway said:
Did the mines produce any appreciable quantity of silver that could be used? Most native gold deposits did contain some silver, the the Mints in 1839 could not part it from the gold cost effectively, and so they just left it in the coinage.

I’ve read that the Charlotte and Dahlonega Mints did produce some silver in their refining process. The resulting silver bars were shipped to the Philadelphia Mint.

I don’t imagine that it was enough silver to make much of a dent in the coin shortage. Foreign coins were still legal tender in the United States in 1839. The first Philadelphia Mint had been woefully inadequate to serve the nation’s needs, and the second Philadelphia Mint was just getting up to the technology of the time with steam driven presses. England had been using them for almost 40 years.

I don’t imagine that this proposal got very far in Congress. It would have involved shipping silver to Charlotte to supply a small mint which didn’t have that much capacity. Furthermore the Charlotte mint personnel would have needed to step up their game. The Charlotte coins, especially the dollars and $2.50 coins were not that well made. They seemed to have had a hard time calibrating their presses.

A whole slew of things were involved then, 🤔

asheland · July 7, 2026 12:14AM

Greg, I have an UNC roll of seated quarters from Charlotte.
never opened 🤓

CaptHenway · July 7, 2026 7:42AM

@asheland said:
Greg, I have an UNC roll of seated quarters from Charlotte.
never opened 🤓

Is the wrapping made of sheep intestines, perhaps?

Maywood · July 7, 2026 9:45AM

That resolution is proof positive that politicians have always been the most verbose people.

The_Dinosaur_Man · July 7, 2026 11:24AM

If the request went through, would Charlotte have been able to strike quarters? If I recall, they were limited in gold coins to the half eagle.

savoyspecial · July 7, 2026 11:30AM

@The_Dinosaur_Man Charlotte also struck $2.50 gold coins and [ten years later] gold dollars

The_Dinosaur_Man · July 7, 2026 11:36AM

@savoyspecial said:
@The_Dinosaur_Man Charlotte also struck $2.50 gold coins and [ten years later] gold dollars

They are were also sent dies for $3 gold, at least in 1854 (and maybe in 57 and 61). I was referring to the size of the press accepting a larger diameter coin

Testoon · July 7, 2026 9:47PM

I had wondered if Charlotte and Dahlonega were restricted to gold coinage by law or by Mint policy. I have to admit I never looked up the authorizing act, though. Thanks for posting this!

BillJones · July 8, 2026 5:12AM

@Testoon said:
I had wondered if Charlotte and Dahlonega were restricted to gold coinage by law or by Mint policy. I have to admit I never looked up the authorizing act, though. Thanks for posting this!

The two mints were limited to gold coins only, and their presses were intentionally made smaller so that they could strike nothing larger than a $5 gold piece. The idea was that $10 pieces encouraged the export of gold from the U.S.

It was also consistent with Andrew Jackson’s belief that getting small denomination gold coins into circulation would bring economic stability and prosperity to farmers and wage earners.

messydesk · July 8, 2026 7:43AM

This is just less than one year after the New Orleans started making coinage. Understandable that the NC legislature wanted their mint to play a bigger role, but I'd be surprised if it got much further than that.

How close was Charlotte to minting silver coinage?

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