1861 $10 Colorado Gold - Clark Gruber & Co. PCGS AU58

The Rocky Mountain News, July 25, 1860, described the Clark, Gruber & Co. facility and the mintage of $10 coins: "[Upon] invitation we forthwith repaired to the elegant banking house of the firm…and were admitted to their coining room in the basement, where we found preparations almost complete for the issue of Pikes Peak coin. A hundred 'blanks' had been prepared, weight and fineness tested, and last manipulation gone through with prior to their passage through the stamping press. The little engine that drives the machinery was fired up, belts adjusted, and between 3 and 4 o'clock the machinery was put in motion and "mint drop"' of the value of $10 each began dropping into a tin pail with the most musical 'clink.' About $1,000 were turned out, at the rate of fifteen or twenty coins a minute, which was deemed satisfactory for the first equipment. The coins-of which none but $10 pieces are yet coined-are seventeen grains heavier than the United States coin of the same denomination.

"On the face is a representation of the Peak, its base surrounded by a forest of timber, and 'Pikes Peak Gold' encircling the summit. Immediately under its base is the word 'Denver' and beneath it 'Ten D.' On the reverse is the American eagle, encircled by the name of the firm 'Clark, Gruber & Co.,' and beneath it the date, '1860.' The coin has a little of the roughness peculiar to newness, but is upon the whole, very credible in appearance, and a vast improvement over 'dust' as a circulating medium."

Most probably the Pikes Peak motif was discontinued after 1860 in favor of a federal-copy obverse to facilitate circulation. The Rocky Mountain News reported on the continuing progress of the firm in an article in the August 29, 1860 issue:

"Clark Gruber & Co. melted and coined about $18,000 in $10, $5, and $2.50 pieces. As specimens of coinage these pieces are far superior to any of the private mint drops issued in San Francisco, and are nearly as perfect as the regular United States Mint issues. The faces of the $5s and $2.50s are a good imitation of the government coinage—the stars, with the name of 'Clark & Co.' occupying the head tiara. The reverse is occupied, of course, with 'our noble bird' encircled by the words 'Pikes Peak Gold, Denver 21/2D.' Altogether it is a creditable piece of work, and we hope to see hosts of it in circulation before the snow flies. The fineness of this coin is 828-1/2; and the excess of weight over U.S. coin is 23 grains in a $10 piece. The value in gold is the same as government coin of like denomination, with an additional value in silver alloy equal to near 1%. Deduct the cost of coining at the U.S. mint, about 1/2%, and the actual worth of Clark & Co.'s coin is 1/2% more than any other coinage."

The initial coinages were of the $10 and $20 denominations. Later, pieces of $2.50 and $5 were made, as noted in the preceding article. By October 1860 the coins were in wide circulation throughout the "Jefferson" Territory.

The mint operated both day and night, and by October $120,000 worth had been struck. Toward the end of 1860 Clark, Gruber & Co. opened a branch office in Central City, Colorado. At the time, Central City, and its neighbor, Black Hawk, were among the most active gold mining areas.

In 1861 new dies were produced. Gold content of the Clark, Gruber & Co. coins was increased to 1% more than that used by the United States government mints.

The Colorado Republican and Rocky Mountain Herald wrote on August 3, 1861, of a visit to the coining establishment: "We yesterday stepped into the fine banking house of Messrs. Clark, Gruber & Co. and by invitation of the gentlemanly proprietors took a look at the machinery and fixtures for minting…The gold is first refined by chemicals, then put into a crucible, melted, and run into bars. Then it is run through a rolling machine, which reduces it to the proper thickness; it is then taken to a punching machine where it is cut in the proper size; a man then takes it and reduces it to the proper weight, when it is taken to the die and stamped, then the edges are milled, which is the finishing stroke." --StacksBowers