Territorial Gold Coins

Territorial Gold coins are those gold coins that were struck by private mints during the Gold rushes of the 1830s-1840s in North Carolina and Georgia or during the California gold rush of 1849.

These coins were accepted as currency in their local economies. Some of them were accurately weighed and assayed while others were found to be deficient and that caused a lack of confidence in those issuing minters.

These gold rushes were responsible for the US Mint building branch mints in Charlotte, NC, Dahlonega, GA and for the still-existent San Francisco Mint. It was cheaper, faster, and safer to have these local mints turning gold ore and gold dust into gold bars and coins, rather than shipping the gold across the country to the Philadelphia Mint.

Because the original mintages are so low and so few survive, collecting territorial gold coins is quite a challenge and fairly expensive as well.