Historical Highlights of Carolina Gold
1799. First documented gold discovery in the U.S. is made by young Conrad Reed while fishing on his father's farm in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. The l7-pound nugget from Little Meadow Creek is used as a doorstop, since a nearby silversmith says the rock is of no value.
1802. A Fayetteville jeweler buys the rock from Conrad's father, John - for $3.50. John catches on and begins panning gold in Little Meadow Creek.
1803. A 28-pound nugget is found in Little Meadow Creek. Word spreads, and the Carolina gold rush is on.
1804-1828. North Carolina, known as "The Gold State", supplies all the domestic gold coined by the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. Production is all from placer mining of stream gravels until 1825, when lode mining begins.
1827. South Carolina enters the arena as gold is discovered in creek gravels on Benjamin Hale's land (later named Haile) in Lancaster County.
1828. A new gold rush begins in Georgia - then Cherokee country.
1831. With money in short supply and the Philadelphia Mint remote, Christopher Bechtler, a jeweler and gunsmith from Pforzheim, Germany, starts coining $2.50 and $5 gold pieces at Rutherfordton, North Carolina. He follows, by a few months, Templeton Reid's similar but short lived operation in Georgia. Private minting is tolerated since the Constitution specifically prohibits only states from coining money.
In late 1831, Bechtler coins America's first gold dollar - 18 years before the U.S. Mint. Bechtler's reputation for honesty spreads; the U.S. government acknowledges the superior quality of Bechtler coins. Between 1831 and 1840, Bechtler coins more gold than the U.S. government at the Philadelphia Mint and the new Charlotte Mint (opened in 1837) combined. Bechtler distinguishes 3 degrees of purity and identifies them by stamping his coins with the source region of the gold - "Georgia Gold" (the purest, 22k), "Carolina Gold" (21k), and "North Carolina Gold" (20k).
1837. In the midst of a severe depression, a Frenchman named .Gugnot erects a 5-stamp mill at the Haile –the second stamp mill in the U.S. (A stamp mill is an ore-crushing machine with five heavy "feet" activated by cams.)
It is later enlarged to a lO-stamp mill.
1840. Christopher Bechtler retires, turning over his coinage operation to his son, Augustus, who has assisted him from the start. In the opinion of the U.S. Mint, Augustus improves the quality of Bechtler coinage.
1849. California gold rush begins, luring miners from the Carolinas. U.S. Mint produces its first gold dollars. Bechtler Mint essentially closes.
1857. Foreign gold coins are finally prohibited as legal tender in the U.S.
1861-1865. The Charlotte Mint is seized by the Confederacy and becomes a Confederate military headquarters. Never again does it coin gold. Miners are exempted from military service because of the great demand for bullets. Later, General Sherman sacks the facilities at the Haile Mine on his march through South Carolina.
1869. Jay Gould attempts to corner the U.S. gold market and nearly succeeds.
1932. A 12-pound nugget is found near Charlotte, North Carolina.
1934. U.S. Government raises the official gold price from $20.67 to $35.00 per ounce. A few gold mines in the Carolinas are reactivated mines, now under the City of Charlotte.
1942. U.S. Government closes all U.S. gold mines.
1968. Central Banks stop selling gold at $35 per ounce. Gold price rises to almost $42 per ounce.
1970. U.S. Government ends all gold backing for the dollar. Gold price drops below $35 per ounce.
1981. The price of gold is selling for nearly $400 per ounce.
2009. Gold prices continue to rise as investors make more purchases of gold.
