![]() ![]() The success of their venture led to calls for government-issue gold dollar coins. This was perfectly legal under the existing federal statutes - but, even so, Uncle Sam began to watch the Bechtlers closely. Finding that gold dust and nuggets were the primary medium of exchange in the area, Bechtler ran a series of ads in the North Carolina Spectator and Western Advertiser offering to refine raw gold into coins for a nominal fee.īy 1840, Bechtler and his family had turned out more than $2.2 million worth of gold coins, of which about half were gold dollars. The first gold dollars made in the United States were privately minted issues produced about 1832 by a German immigrant named Alt Christoph Bechtler who operated a jewelry shop in Rutherfordton, N.C. and a sharp boost in the number of gold coins being made by the federal government. coinage, leading to the establishment of two branch mints in the region - in Charlotte, N.C., and Dahlonega, Ga. The groundwork was laid for this fascinating coin in the Carolinas and Georgia, where the nation's first big gold rush took place in the early 1800s. The coin is the gold dollar, a mere pipsqueak physically but a giant in terms of history, rarity and value. history owes its existence to two of the biggest gold rushes. Image Courtesy of Coin Community Members on eBay
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