The morning journal-courier., 1908-01-16
AFTER MANY DAYS The "Cal' of 1848 Quarter
 Eagles Finally Ex-
 plained. COLLECTORS LONG PUZZLED Evidence That the Coins Were Made of the First Gold Sent From
 California to Washington.
LONG PUZZLED

'oiANt VI AiN Spih dueAi " 1S4S. The answer has just been dis covered
 Numismatists have long associated the coin with California, which was not a difficult deduction from the let ters Cal and the date 1S4S, and yet they have not been sure. Some col lectors included it among the pioneer or private gold coins of California and even among the pattern or experi- mental issues of the United States Mint at Philadelphia.
 As a matter of fact the first theory is correct, but besides being associat- ed with the first California gold used at the mint with which to strike Unit ed States coins this quarter eagle is of interest as a reminder of the fact that prominent government officials were sceptical as to the yellow metal being gold. This scepticism is shown by certain letters recently found among government documents.
 In a letter to Brig.-Gen. R. Jones, Adjutant- General of the United States Army, with headquarters at Washing ton, dated September 10, 1S4S, Col. R. B. Mason. commanding the military department at Monterey, Cal, stated that he was sending samples of gold received from dozen or so persons, among whom was Capt. Sutter, in the care of Lieut.. l.. Loeser. who on Au- gust 30, with the original of the, let ter, had sailed on the schooner Lam baycana for Paytu. Peru. on his way around Cape Horn and thence to Washington
 In addition to these specimens of gold, the letter went on, the lieuten- ant carried tea caddy containing 9SO ounces IS pennyweights grain of gold This was purchased at San Francisco by Col Mason's orders, and is sent to you as fair sample of the gold obtained from the mines of the Sacramento It is a mixture colning from the various parts of the gold district"
 Gen. Jones upon receipt of the tea caddy evidently turned 1t over to the secretary of war, William L. Marcy, who sent it to the director of the mint at Philadelphia in care of Lieut.-Col Cooper, who bore a letter to the di- rector dated December 8. 1S4S. In this letter the secretary stated that the tea caddy was supposed to contain 2S0 ounces 15 pennyweights grains "of what Is presumed to be gold
 This metal he wrote, had just been forwarded from different localities in California, and doubt was expressed | by several persons as to it's actually being the precious metal In the event that the metal proved to be gold. Secretary Marcy requested that the two medals ordered by congress what these we're is not at present knowkn, but they probably had to de with the Mexican war-be struck in 1t, that a pound of the pure metal be re turned by Col Cooper and that the re- mainder, with the exception of one or two small bars be coined and sent with the bars to the department
 He said that as many persons might desire to procure a specimen of coin made from California gold by ex- l changing other coin for 1t he would suggest that the metal he made into i quarter eagles, with a distinguishing mark on each, if any variation from the ordinary issues of the mint would be proper and could be con l veniently made
 James Ross Snowden, director of the mint al Philadelphia, on December l l2, 1S4S. wrote to Mir. Marcy acknowl- edging the receipt of the gold, which l he said had been deposited in the name of the war department. He further said that a portico would be l reserved for the medals and the rest conied, subject to his order The gold in the caddy after refining amounted to 2l1 ounces 16 pennyweights of gold of a fineness of .S9i 1-2, and was valued at sS,91O1o.
 It is easy to infer that the distin- l gushing mark placed upon the coins, in accordance with the suggestion of the secretary of war, was the letters Cal" A change in the design of a United States coin cannot be accom- i plished quickly, and therefore it is reasonable 10 suppose that the direc- tor resorted to the simple expedient of punchmarking the three letters on the quarter eagles struck from this first lot of California gold
 If the director followed out the plan outlined by him in his letter it is probable that the number of quarter eagles bearing this mark was between 1000 and 1900.
 It may seem odd. in view of subse- quent events and of the fact that for a long time after the date of the letter of the secretary of war California was the greatest gold producing region
 in the world, to think that persons high in authority should regard with suspicion the first gold from Califor- mia, and yet many of the samples spoken of by Col. Mason did prove tc he utterly innocent of the presence oi the precious metal. The mint assay CTS. Eckfeldt and Dubois. in whose hands all the first samples of Califor- mia gold were placed for assay and valuation. stated in one of their re- ports that "the first samnle of ore was sent to us hy an officer in the army during the Mexican war and ir advance of the wonderful rumors, but so perfectly exempt was this consider able invoice of stones from anything like precious metal that we might be fergiNen for having joined in the gen eral incredulity by which so many have been deceived and some helated Other specimens have since been for. Warded for examination by the Hon Secretary af the Interior. most of which were equally unproductive, dis proving at least the common impres- sion that everything in the gold reglor Is gangue for gold
 While it is possible that a thousand and more of tbp pr1rtpr paCl1S ir