THE PROPERTY OF THE SAWYER FAMILY
Georgia, Templeton Reid, $2½, 1830 (Breen, Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins, 7730), with what may well be teethmarks at 7 o'clock on the obverse, 5 o'clock on the reverse, not significantly affecting the devices, otherwise a very attractive very fine with a lovely red tone, one of perhaps two-dozen that survive from America's first and least known Gold Rush, this piece is known to have belonged to the present owners' grandmother and is being offered for the first time since the 19th Century
Details
Georgia, Templeton Reid, $2½, 1830 (Breen, Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins, 7730), with what may well be teethmarks at 7 o'clock on the obverse, 5 o'clock on the reverse, not significantly affecting the devices, otherwise a very attractive very fine with a lovely red tone, one of perhaps two-dozen that survive from America's first and least known Gold Rush, this piece is known to have belonged to the present owners' grandmother and is being offered for the first time since the 19th Century
Further details
A BRIEF HISTORY OF MR. TEMPLETON REIDAND HIS GEORGIA MINT
Many Americans don't know that the first American Gold Rush was to Georgia and North Carolina in 1828. Though gold was discovered as early as 1799 in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, publicity (or lack thereof) wasn't sufficient to fire "Gold Fever" until 1828. When it finally did, hundreds of miners descended upon poverty-stricken Southern Appalachia. The area's population grew hundredfold practically overnight, and one result was an extreme shortage of circulating coinage.
To combat the problem, miners began a barter system based on the readily available gold dust. The system worked in a fashion but was very impractical; gold dust was lost at a rate of about 5-15 during transportation, re-weighing, repackaging, etc.
Mr. Templeton Reid (1789-1851), a man of German descent and a resident of Milledgeville, Georgia was a jack of all trades. At various times he made a living as a jeweler, metalworker, gunsmith, watchmaker and cotton gin manufacturer. Reid's biographer, Dr. Dexter Seymour, speculates that Reid began working on the idea of minting a private coinage when the Georgia Gold Rush began in 1828.
Reid's first coins were struck in Milledgeville in 1830. A newspaper clipping from the July 24th Georgia Journal reads:
"...our very ingeneous fellow citizen,
Mr. Templeton Reid...makes with great
facility and great neatness, pieces worth
ten, five and two and a half dollars. No
alloy is mixed with it, and it is so stamped
that it cannot be easily imitated."
In August Reid moved his mint to Gainesville, Georgia to be closer to the center of the mining district. His business was quite successful and he was a trusted assayer; even some local banks accepted his coins at face value.
Success, however, brought jealousy. Complaints, largely in editorial form from the mysterious and malevolent "No Assayer," were first leveled at Reid on August 16th in the Georgia Courier. They centered on the gold content and weight of Reid's coins, and his seignorage charges. "No Assayer" further contended that the private minting of coins was unconstitutional. Reid defended his operation on all counts, and modern numismatic historians seem to be on his side. According to Walter Breen, Reid's coins were "very slightly" lighter than federal $2½ coins, but their gold content was about .942 Fine as opposed to the federal .917, so Reid's coins were actually worth a little more than face value as bullion. However, the negative publicity forced Reid to shut his mint on about October 18th, 1830 after a total of four months of sporadic production.
It is estimated that Templeton Reid produced about 1,500 coins during those four months, two-thirds of which were two and a half dollar pieces. Almost all of his coins were melted down at the Philadelphia mint soon after they fell out of use in Georgia.
Many Americans don't know that the first American Gold Rush was to Georgia and North Carolina in 1828. Though gold was discovered as early as 1799 in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, publicity (or lack thereof) wasn't sufficient to fire "Gold Fever" until 1828. When it finally did, hundreds of miners descended upon poverty-stricken Southern Appalachia. The area's population grew hundredfold practically overnight, and one result was an extreme shortage of circulating coinage.
To combat the problem, miners began a barter system based on the readily available gold dust. The system worked in a fashion but was very impractical; gold dust was lost at a rate of about 5-15 during transportation, re-weighing, repackaging, etc.
Mr. Templeton Reid (1789-1851), a man of German descent and a resident of Milledgeville, Georgia was a jack of all trades. At various times he made a living as a jeweler, metalworker, gunsmith, watchmaker and cotton gin manufacturer. Reid's biographer, Dr. Dexter Seymour, speculates that Reid began working on the idea of minting a private coinage when the Georgia Gold Rush began in 1828.
Reid's first coins were struck in Milledgeville in 1830. A newspaper clipping from the July 24th Georgia Journal reads:
"...our very ingeneous fellow citizen,
Mr. Templeton Reid...makes with great
facility and great neatness, pieces worth
ten, five and two and a half dollars. No
alloy is mixed with it, and it is so stamped
that it cannot be easily imitated."
In August Reid moved his mint to Gainesville, Georgia to be closer to the center of the mining district. His business was quite successful and he was a trusted assayer; even some local banks accepted his coins at face value.
Success, however, brought jealousy. Complaints, largely in editorial form from the mysterious and malevolent "No Assayer," were first leveled at Reid on August 16th in the Georgia Courier. They centered on the gold content and weight of Reid's coins, and his seignorage charges. "No Assayer" further contended that the private minting of coins was unconstitutional. Reid defended his operation on all counts, and modern numismatic historians seem to be on his side. According to Walter Breen, Reid's coins were "very slightly" lighter than federal $2½ coins, but their gold content was about .942 Fine as opposed to the federal .917, so Reid's coins were actually worth a little more than face value as bullion. However, the negative publicity forced Reid to shut his mint on about October 18th, 1830 after a total of four months of sporadic production.
It is estimated that Templeton Reid produced about 1,500 coins during those four months, two-thirds of which were two and a half dollar pieces. Almost all of his coins were melted down at the Philadelphia mint soon after they fell out of use in Georgia.