The record-union., 1895-03-27
GOLD COIN MADE IN DENVER.
Private Enterprise Which Was Bought
In by the Government.

Private Enterprise Which Was Bought
In by the Government.
Congress has passed bill to establish
coinage mint in Denver, and in discuss
ing the matter the Denver Republican
thus tells how gold was coined in Colo
RADIOS capital many years ago:
1t is not generally known that the
building now used by the Government
as an assay Office, and commonly desig-
mated by courtesy mint, was in the
early days of Denver coinage mint in
truth. 10 again start a coming press to
work within it would be but to restore
the structure TO the purposes for which it
was erected.
TO say that the building was put up for
coinage mint and used as such for sew
eral months before it came into the
possession OF the Government, gives rise
TO suspicious of queer" but money was
coined there openly and passed into cir
culation. was accepted at the banks, and
the only way The United States had to
stop the presses was to buy the plant.
When Clark, Gruber d Co found too
much OF the placer gold that then passed
current in trade in this section sticking
under the hnger-nails Of the weighers,
they believed there was an opening for
factory to manufacture the gold dust
into solid coins
Philadelphia was too far away, and
there was no time to send the dust back
East over the freight wagon routes, so a
coinage mint in Denver presented itself
as business proposition. They put up
the present building, ordered dies cut
and stamp presses from the East, and in
1851 began TO turn out the Pixies Peak
coins to secure which numismatists are
now willing TO pay three times The value
represented by the gold they contain.
These COINS were in so and So denOmina-
prNI
small amount more gold than the Gov
ernment pieces. In workmanship they
were as well executed as the official, had
miIled edges, and the Denver presses
turned out as good a coin as those of the
Philadelphia mint. On one side was the
name of the firm and the date of issue:
"Clark, Gruber q Co., 1861" The re-
verse bore the design OF a conventional
mountain, the words, "Pike's Peak Gold,
Denver" and the amount with the dol
lars represented abbreviated into a single
letter ID"
Several thousand of each coin were
struck and the mint had been in opera
ton several months, though run openly
and without any attempt 10 hide before
the Government concluded that its mo-
nopoly on the making of money was be-
ing disregarded. But when it was found
desirable to stop the individual coinage
no law could be found that covered the
case. 1t seemed wrong, but while not
counterfeit, it could not be allowed to
continue. Other institutions of the same
kind were operating in California and
the only way that presented itself was for
the Government. to buy up the inGivid-
ual mints and pass law assuming the
privilege to coin money solely 10 itself
Clark, Gruber q Co. therefore sold the
Denver establishment in April, 1862, to
the United States for about $4,000 and
the Denver Mint in it's present form fol-
lowed. Up to that time no law to pre-
vent cOunterfeiting had been passed in a
form that covered this semi-transgres-
sion. bat 1t came soon after in natural
consequence.
Several of the Pixies Peak coins are to
be found In private collections in this
city. j. '. Dexter has a complete set in
his remarkable coin cabinets, and besides
the Clark, Gruber q Co. issues, complete,
he has $40 gold slug stamped with its
value and the name "Motfat Il Co." as
another relic of the substitutes for the
coin OF the realm which passed in this
country in the days of gold.
The old presses used by Clark. Gruber
& Co. stand in the mint to-day. almost
as good as the day they were put in. The
dies are missing and the machinery NAV
be bit out OF date, but if it was desired
they could be started to work in few
days and would no doubt do good work.
The old rolls used in the preliminary
work OF rolling out the bars are used in
the mint to-day.