Miners Bank of Savings of Alta-California, 25 cents, c. 1849
date: label: Date made
content: ca 1849
name: label: maker
content: Miners Bank of Savings of Alta, California
notes: label: Description
content: The opening days of the California Gold Rush were unlike anything in our nation's history. We had never had there been adequate amounts of precious metals for an American coinage, relying instead on paper money. But the tiny flecks and small nuggets presented a logistical challenge, along with great opportunity.
label: Description
content: Gold dust was measured in pinches. One person's pinch might or might not be comparable with another's. Disputes and mayhem ensued.
label: Description
content: An obscure organization calling itself the Miners Bank of Savings of Alta-California suggested an answer. It would issue tiny notes worth precisely twenty-five cents, the amount of gold commonly found in a pinch. Harmony would be restored.
label: Description
content: The plan never seems to have gone into full operation. Only a handful of notes have survived, and only a few were signed, dated, and actually issued. Perhaps it's just as well: Gavit & Company, the Albany, New York, firm that printed the so-called fractionals, gave the place of issue as "St. Francisco" rather than San Francisco.
place: label: Place Made
content: United States: California, Alta
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: National Numismatic Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Chase Manhattan Bank
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1979.1263.02070
label: accession number
content: 1979.1263
label: collector/donor number
content: CM 1459A
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Paper money
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 5.7 cm x 9.2 cm; 2 1/4 in x 3 5/8 in