1831-1834 C. Bechtler Gold $1 “30 Grains” PCGS AU Details
Item #CC-0600 | 1831-1834 C. Bechtler Gold $1 “30 Grains” PCGS AU Details
Mint: Rutherfordton, North Carolina
Mintage: Unknown
Grade: AU Details
For details and population on this coin from PCGS, click on the serial number here: 50773221
Description: This is an extremely rare U.S. gold territorial gold piece. The C. Bechtler Gold $1 “30 Grains” coin, minted from 1831 to 1834, holds a special place in American numismatic history as one of the earliest privately minted gold coins in the United States. German immigrant Christopher Bechtler and his family established a private mint in Rutherfordton, North Carolina, after recognizing the need for reliable currency in the wake of the Carolina Gold Rush. During this period, locally mined gold was abundant, but there was a shortage of coins in circulation for trade.
To address this, Bechtler began producing coins that were trusted for their purity and weight, marking them with “30 Grains” to indicate the precise gold content, which gave people confidence in their value. The coins featured simple, practical designs: the denomination and weight were stamped on one side, while the name “C. Bechtler” and the mint location, “North Carolina,” appeared on the other. These coins quickly became popular in the southern United States, filling the need for small denominations in gold.
The Bechtler mint continued to operate successfully for several decades, and their coins became among the first regulated gold coins in the U.S. before the government established its own branch mints in the region. Today, Bechtler’s $1 gold coin is a valued piece of American coinage history, symbolizing early entrepreneurial spirit and the unique circumstances of the Carolina Gold Rush.
$5,700.00
