2 1/2 Dollars, United States, 1848
date: label: date made
content: 1848
name: label: mint
content: U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
label: designer
content: Gobrecht, Christian
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: One (1) 2 1/2 dollar coin
label: Description (Brief)
content: United States, 1848
label: Description (Brief)
content: Obverse Image: Left facing Liberty with hair tied in a bun and wearing a coronet. 13 stars around.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Obverse Text: LIBERTY / 1848
label: Description (Brief)
content: Reverse Image: Eagle with wings outstretched clutching arrows and branch in talons, shield over chest.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Reverse Text: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / CAL. / 2 1/2 D.
label: Description
content: In 1848, the largest single gold rush in history was just getting under way in California. This event triggered a mass migration of fortune hunters from around the world. The territory had only recently passed into American hands as an outcome of U.S. victory in the Mexican War. The new California military governor Col. R. B. Mason sent 230 ounces of native bullion to the Secretary of War, who in turn passed the gold on to the Mint.
label: Description
content: Much of this first shipment went into large, honorific medals Congress authorized for the winning American generals in the war, Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott. Scott's medal is in the Smithsonian Collection. The rest of the gold was used to make "quarter eagles," or 2½ dollar gold pieces. These became some of the most legendary coins in American numismatic history.
label: Description
content: The basic design was standard: the head of Liberty was on one side, a somewhat bellicose eagle on the other. The mint had been striking quarter eagles with these designs for nearly a decade. But closer scrutiny showed that these coins had one odd feature: above the eagle on the reverse, the initials "CAL." These were added by means of a punch.
label: Description
content: Precisely 1,389 quarter eagles marked with the CAL stamp were made. Less than 200 still exist. They bear poignant witness to the colorful history of the American West.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
label: province
content: United States: California
label: country
content: United States
label: political area
content: United States
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: Josiah K. Lilly Jr. Collection
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: Estate of Josiah K. Lilly
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: NU.68.159.0072
label: catalog number
content: 68.159.0072
label: accession number
content: 283645
objectType: label: Object Name
content: coin
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: gold (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: .1 cm x 1.8 cm; 1/32 in x 23/32 in