1831 $5 GOLD C.BECHTLER ASSAYER. RUTHERFORD COUNTY 150.G. 20 carats, Star below. PCGS AU-55 K-15 - The first coin struck! Price on Request

In the July 2, 1831, issue of the North Carolina Spectator and Western Advertiser, an advertisement first appeared announcing that Bechtler was ready to coin products of the mines into $2.50 and $5 gold pieces. In that same issue, the editor Roswell Elmer, Jr. published the following in the news columns:

“We have been shown a specimen of the ingots assayed and stamped by Mr. Christopher Bechtler, at this establishment near this town. The piece shown to us, in point of execution of the relief letters is not as handsome as we had wished to have seen; but Mr. B informs us that he intends to prepare new dies and make such improvements as have suggested themselves to his mind. The pieces are 20 carats fine, or 2 carats below the standard coin of the United States…”

We firmly believe the present coin offered here is that very coin Bechtler introduced to the editor back on July 2, 1831. Of all the K-15 we’ve traced, specifically identified as marked RUTHERFORD COUNTY ★ C. BECHTLER, ASSAYER on one side and NORTH CAROLINA GOLD with 5 DOLLARS and 150G. 20C. on the other with a beaded border, this is the only example that shows strike weakness. In fact, this is the only Bechtler gold coin we’ve seen with ANY kind of strike weakness. Bechtler Sr. certainly did refine the rest of his coins as we have seen after careful study. This coin stands out as being quite the anomaly. It's truly "History in your hands-!!!"