1838 Dahlonega Coinage
The new collector, when first seeing a pre-Civil War “D” mint-mark on a gold coin, naturally thinks that it must mean the Denver Mint. Seasoned collectors of course know that it means Dahlonega but only those numismatists living in northeastern Georgia have a true appreciation of how isolated this mint once was from the rest of the country. Despite the origins and location of this mint, it struck coins that are today highly prized by their present-day owners. The story begins in 1830.
Gold had been discovered in the Dahlonega area and miners rushed there from southern Georgia and the Carolinas to become rich. A few got moderately wealthy, but most did not and returned to their homes. An enterprising local mechanic and gunsmith named Templeton Reid decided to help out the miners, and himself, by striking their gold into coins. He made dies for quarter eagles, half eagles, and eagles, all of which are of extreme rarity today.
Reid’s mint lasted only a few months in 1830 because he failed to refine the metal properly and his “coins” thus fell short of their stated value. One of his enemies sent a few specimens to the Philadelphia Mint where they
