The History of The Charlotte Mint

Gold, gold, and more gold. That is what it has been like lately at The Coin Vault. In large part to a single collection we happened upon a few months ago, we have had a number of certified gold options available in the vintage form. From Philadelphia to San Francisco and Carson City, we have had it all. Even more recently, we have added Charlotte gold to the mix and it quite possibly is the largest collection of Charlotte gold pieces that we have ever had at one time.

But why are we making a big stink about Charlotte? It was the site of one of the lesser-known branches of the United States Mint and was only established to produce gold coins during the California Gold Rush. The number of coins produced was extremely small compared to other branch Mints at the time which makes them rare and highly collectible. Their southern gold characteristics and historical flare make these coins from North Carolina a must for a number of collectors today.

The Charlotte Mint In Production (1838-1861)

Located in Charlotte, North Carolina, in Mecklenburg County, the Mint was selected as a site for gold production for which local sources would be used for the bullion. The Mint was established in 1835 but would not begin construction until 1836. It would officially open on July 27, 1837, but no gold would be produced until 1838 as gold ore was not delivered until then.

The Charlotte Mint would see John H. Wheeler as the superintendent, J.H. Gibson as the assayer, and John R. Bolton as the Chief Coiner. Charlotte gold coins saw the mintmark ‘C’ on the obverse above the date in the first two years of production, 1838-1839. In 1840, however, the ‘C’ mintmark would change locations to the reverse of the coins below the eagle. This also occurred when the design changed from the Classic to the Coronet type.

In the first year of production, 7,880 quarter eagles were produced and 17,179 half eagles. Coinage of those two denominations was consistent as $2.5 gold pieces were produced 19 of the 24 years the Charlotte Mint was open. $5 Gold eagles were produced every year except for 1845. In 1849, gold dollars started being produced and were minted for eight years although not consistently. They stopped production of the $1 gold pieces in 1859.

What made the Charlotte Mint different in a lot of ways compared to other branch mints like Philadelphia was that they used old-style screw presses instead of the steam-powered presses. However, this meant that the preparation of the planchets was not as high quality and the striking of the coins was often sporadic and inconsistent. This resulted in the gold coins from Charlotte being seen today as weaker gold coins due to areas on the coins being unsophisticated in the strike (Dahlonega was also this way). However, this also resulted in the coins from Charlotte being distinguishable aside from its mintmark as the pale yellow color provides the proof of a presence of silver in the impurity.

The End of the Mint at Charlotte

In early 1861, North Carolina seceded from the Union and as a result, the Confederacy took over the mint. By that time, nearly 6,000 half eagles had already been struck with the date of 1861. After the seizure of the building, it was said that 887 more coins were made although they would eventually run out of gold ore. The building was quickly turned into an office that was used by the Confederate Army and would later turn into an office used by the Union Army. By 1867, the offices were turned into an assay office by the United States government for which it would continue to be so up until the early 1930s. The Charlotte Mint was then turned into a museum for displaying art.

Source: USA Coinbook; United States Gold Coins: An Illustrated History by Q. David Bowers