The Bechtlers were the first large-scale Private Gold Coiners before the Charlotte Mint was established in 1838. They also struck the first gold dollars- 18 years prior to the United States’ Mint. Christopher and his son, Augustus, struck gold $1’s, $2 1/2’s and $5’s. The weight and fineness was stamped on each gold specimen.
There was an acute shortage of circulating gold coins in the South, which is one of the primary reasons why the Bechtler Mint flourished as coiners of Territorial Gold Pieces. Eventually the Federal Government authorized Branch Mints in Charlotte, Dahlonega, and New Orleans to satisfy the public demand for gold coins. Production from the Bechtler Mint declined after the opening of the Charlotte Mint. But their coinage was accepted for decades after the Bechtler Mint was closed.
* The Bechtler Coin Press is housed in the American Numismatic Society Museum.
* The original Bechtler Dies are in the State Hall of History in Raleigh.
* The Bechtler Mint Rollers used to shape the ingots into strips, which eventually were punched into blank planchets to strike the gold coins, are housed in the Smithsonian Museum.
THIS IS THE ONLY KNOWN CERTIFIED U.S. TERRITORIAL GOLD MAJOR MINT ERROR from the Bechtler Mint, a private U.S. Territorial Mint that struck gold coins.
This UNIQUE U.S. TERRITORIAL GOLD ERROR was struck on a DOUBLE CLIPPED PLANCHET!!
Fred Weinberg, PCGS authenticator for mint errors, numismatic author, scholar, and expert on the minting process authenticated this Bechtler Territorial Gold Coin for PCGS as a Mint Error. He stated, “I don’t recall ever seeing any other major error on a U.S. Territorial Gold Piece. Any major error on a Territorial Gold coin is extremely rare.”
Doug Winter, numismatic author, scholar, and expert on rare United States gold coins stated that “in over two decades of specializing in U.S. gold coins I’ve never seen an error on a Territorial gold coin. This is a major find!”
All U.S. major gold errors are extremely rare. THIS IS A DISCOVERY PIECE and belongs in the finest collection of Major Mint Errors, or in a United States gold coin collection.