1849 $10 California Gold Eagle - Miners Bank, Plain Border PCGS VF35 (CAC)
SOLD
SKU
83612644
We at AUCM have been attending coin shows for almost four decades and can count on one hand the number of times that we have seen a gold Miners' Bank $10 gold eagle offered for private sale. This is a quintessential "bucket list" coin for those collectors with available resources. This specimen exhibits mint luster on the lightly worn surfaces and has a characteristic dark orange-gold look from its copper alloy. Experts agree that this issue is a Rarity-6. We have documented only 46 public auction appearances of this issue in AU since 1908; only 21 of them were noticeably different coins. Only 10 specimens in UNC have been found during the same time frame; 5 of them sold twice at auction. This is a great rarity with a unique double pedigree: the early California Gold Rush and the 1960s Haight-Ashbury counter-culture scene. Plus the CAC sticker documents its superior quality. This could be the "Holy Grail" for that numismatist who desires a truly great rarity at an economical price for his or her treasured collection.
1849 Miners Bank $10 Plain Border PCGS VF35 (CAC)--Private California Gold
We are proud to offer for your consideration one of the great rarities of Private California Gold coinage: the 1849 Miners Bank, Plain Border. Specialists in this area will be excited by this offering. Own this coin, and you will hold in your hand a relic of the early days of the California Gold Rush, one that only a handful of people possess. This dramatic piece could be part of a type set of Private California Gold, or a stand-alone specimen from a watershed period of American history.
An early gold rush business in San Francisco, the Miners' Bank issued 1, 3, and 5 dollar notes on March 1, 1849. They later produced undated fractional currency. Ten dollar gold pieces were minted before August 9, 1849. However, Stephen A. Wright and Samuel Haight, the company's president and cashier respectively, were unable to persuade the customs collector to accept their coins. As an interesting aside, research suggests strongly that the famous Haight Street of San Francisco was named after Samuel Haight, who owned property in that area. Therefore the famed Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, which was the epicenter of the San Francisco hippie and counter-culture scene in the 1960s, is also connected to the cashier of the Miners' Bank. This gives added historical importance to coins emanating from the Miners' Bank.
Some of those gold eagles traveled to the east coast, for the October 12, 1849, issue of the Lowell Daily Journal and Courier (Mass.) reported: "...several five and ten dollar gold pieces, coined in California, have found their way to Boston. They are not so yellow, or so highly finished as those coined at the mint in Philadelphia." Assays at the time in San Francisco rated these coins at .866 fine (some even with copper alloy), and therefore were valued at around $9.65. Because of that they were not popular and brokers valued them at $8 each (a 20% discount). This is the main reason for their limited mintage and consequently their great rarity today. The firm closed their doors on January 14, 1850.
| PCGS # | 10236 |
|---|---|
| Grading Service | NONE |
| Year of Issue | NONE |
| Grade | NONE |
| Denom Type | N/A |
| Numeric Denomination | $10 |
| Mint Location | NONE |
| Designation | NONE |
| Circ/UnCirc | Not Specified |
| Strike Type | N/A |
| Holder Variety | Miners Bank, Plain Border |
| Grade Add On | NONE |
| Holder Type | N/A |
