The Finest collection of Christopher and August Bechtler coinage, struck in Rutherfordton, North Carolina during our nation’s first Gold Rush of 1828-31 from gold found in Georgia and North Carolina, will be sold in an unreserved auction on March 9th in Orlando, Florida.
Kagin’s Auctions, the Official auctioneer for the American Numismatic Association National Money Show will be conducting the auction during that show, March 9 – 11 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando.
The collection formed over three decades by Dr. Christopher Allan of Atlanta, Georgia contains 35 of the possible 37 different varieties struck from 1831-1852 as well as two unique trial strikings, two spoons made with Bechtler gold dollars (the first gold dollar struck in the United States), a Bechtler love token, a holed coin carried during the Civil War, a double struck piece, two gold mining stock certificates and fifteen contemporary counterfeits. It is considered to be not only the finest and most complete collection of its kind but also the best collection of all time.
The first authenticated discovery of gold in the United States was made in Mecklenburg County, near Charlotte, North Carolina in 1799. For almost 30 years crude mining operations continued in the region on a part time basis. The year 1828 saw considerable expansion in Georgia and North Carolina’s gold-mining industry. The influx of miners to this backward area render the old economic system of barter and subsistence farming wholly inadequate. Therefore, it was natural that gold dust came into extensive use as a medium of exchange.
Transportation of the dust to the Philadelphia Mint for coinage was dangerous and local commercial use was inaccurate and inefficient. To answer the need for adequate coinage, Christopher Bechtler Sr., together with his son, Augustus and his nephew, Christopher Jr., began producing coinage in 1831 in Rutherfordton, N.C. Over the next 20 years they issued over $2,000.000 worth of $1, $2 ½, and $5 gold coins comprising 37 different varieties.
Today many of these coins are unique or just 2-3 specimens exist and some of those are impounded in museums. The Allan collection is the most extensive ever formed and even exceeds the collection held at the Smithsonian Institution.
One can order a free catalog at www.kagins.com, by phone 888-852-4467 or e-mail [email protected]. Bidding can be live in Orlando or online at http://auctions.kagins.com/
 Lot #209 |
 Lot #228 |
 Lot #195 |
 Lot #201 |
 Lot #202 |
 Lot #203 |
 Lot #219 |
 Lot #229 |
 Lot #245 |
 Lot #246 |
|
|
Article provided by PCGS at www.pcgs.com