2017-03-24 Fri

The Kagin’s auction at Orlando, Fla sold an 1861 Clark, MS 63 Gruber & Co. $2.50 pioneer gold coin for $30,550. Pioneer or territorial gold coins are private issues that were mostly produced where Gold was found in plenty but they were not served by a federal Mint facility. Their designs were copied from circulating coins of those times. This not only added legitimacy to private mint issues but also allowed manufacturers to not worry about original designs.

Private gold issues were manufactured in 1860-61 by Clark, Gruber & Co. from Denver. The coin offered at the auction featured an interesting crude die work that was similar to the federal Coronet quarter eagle. The obverse stars are thin and long, the date numerals are also different. The reverse has a separate arrow feather in the position where a Mint Mark is generally placed.