5 Dollars, Christopher Bechtler, United States, 1834
date: label: date made
content: 1834
name: label: mint
content: Bechtlers
label: obverse designer
content: Bechtler, Alt Christoph
label: reverse designer
content: Bechtler, Alt Christoph
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: One (1) 5 dollar coin
label: Description (Brief)
content: United States, 1834
label: Description (Brief)
content: Obverse Image: N/A
label: Description (Brief)
content: Obverse Text: CAROLINA GOLD. / CARATS. / AUGUST 1. 1834. / 140 / .G. / 20.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Reverse Image: Star.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Reverse Text: C. BECHTLER. AT RUTHERF: / 5 DOLLARS.
label: Description
content: Like Templeton Reid, a family of German immigrants named Bechtler established a private mint to coin gold between 1830 and 1852. The head of the clan, Alt Christoph, started out in the Black Forest area where he was apprenticed as a goldsmith, silversmith, and gunsmith.
label: Description
content: Already well into middle age, he decided to seek his fortune in America. The early spring of 1830 found him and his family in Rutherfordton, North Carolina, where they set up shop as jewelers and watchmakers. The shortage of coinage in that part of the South, the abundance of gold from the new discoveries, the near-impossibility of getting it safely to the Mint at Philadelphia, and Alt Christoph's experience as a metallurgist, set the conditions for an important event.
label: Description
content: When local settlers were unsuccessful in petitioning Congress to establish a branch Mint, Alt Christoph created a private mint. He made his dies, punches, even his presses, himself. His coins were simple affairs, but they were of honest weight and good quality. His first gold coins began making their appearance in the summer of 1831.
label: Description
content: Alt Christoph ran the Bechtler mint until 1840. He then retired, and the operation was taken over by his son, August, remaining at work until about 1852, when it finally closed. To the Bechtlers goes the distinction of issuing the first gold dollars. They were doing so as early as 1834; the federal government didn't get around to striking the denomination until 1849!
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place of issue
content: United States: North Carolina
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: National Numismatic Collection
label: See more items in
content: Coins
label: See more items in
content: Numismatics
label: See more items in
content: Coins, Currency and Medals
label: See more items in
content: Legendary Coins
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Zoomable Image and Details
label: Related Publication
content: Glossary of Coins and Currency Terms
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/coins/glossary.cfm
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: United States Mint
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1991.0357.0143
label: catalog number
content: 1991.0357.0143
label: accession number
content: 1991.0357
objectType: label: Object Name
content: coin
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: gold (overall metal)
label: Physical Description
content: 0 (overall die axis)
label: Physical Description
content: 0 (overall die axis measurement)
label: Physical Description
content: struck (overall production method)
label: Measurements
content: overall: .15 cm x 2.48 cm; 1/16 in x 31/32 in