1849 $5 Oregon Exchange Co. Five Dollar AU58 PCGS....

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Rare 1849 Oregon Five Dollar, AU58
Tied for Finest Certified at PCGS

1849 $5 Oregon Exchange Co. Five Dollar AU58 PCGS. K-1, R.5. The Oregon Territory is both the name used for the unorganized Oregon Country that was claimed by both Britain and the United States, as well as for the organized Oregon Territory formed from it, which existed from 1848 to 1859. The Oregon Territory included all of present-day Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, as well as Montana and Wyoming west of the Continental Divide.
From about 1785 to 1815, most of the area's trade was in sea-otter pelts, traded from one Native American to another. As more white men moved into the area in the early 1800s, barter became the chief method of commerce in the Pacific Northwest. But trappers, hunters, sailors, merchants, farmers, and Indians all needed a standard form of exchange. Once white trappers and hunters arrived in considerable numbers, the Indians began trading them sea-otter pelts and beaver furs, which would bring 10 shillings apiece. The furs enabled distant families in New England and even the Old World with the means to accumulate considerable fortunes.
The 1804 Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, along with the successful conclusion of the War of 1812, respectively lessened the influence of the French and the British in the Oregon Territories; the Russians had already been marginalized by that time to areas further north. The 1823 expression of the Monroe Doctrine led by the 1840s to the idea of Manifest Destiny--and discoveries of gold, first in the American Southeast in the 1830s (Georgia and North Carolina), and in California in 1848, all spurred a vast westward migration. Those factors increased the need for a consistent and measurable circulating medium of exchange. Wheat was legal tender in the Oregon Country by the mid-1840s.
In particular, discovery of gold in California in 1849 changed the equation forever. Oregon settlers were among the first wave of those to try their fortunes in California, but the more successful were those who chose to trade lumber, food, tools, and other goods to the Californians in return for gold dust, resulting in the influx of vast quantities into Oregon. By the winter of 1849 perhaps $400,000 worth of gold dust had been imported, an amount that would reach $2 million in another two years.
The considerable amounts of gold dust and nuggets precipitated the need for a local mint. The Oregon Exchange Company was established in Oregon City, at 1,000 inhabitants the largest in the territory. The five dollar gold coins were produced first, while dies for the ten dollar issue were being prepared. The pieces were struck of unalloyed virgin gold, which contributed to their demise, as Gresham's Law would have predicted: Their greater purity compared with alloyed California gold pieces led to their speedy melting for their intrinsic value, likely in California. Today all of the Oregon pieces are rare to very rare (R.5 to High R.6).
For an example of the Oregon Territory coinage produced in soft gold, the present specimen shows remarkably few surface abrasions, save for a few tiny and insignificant ticks that appear under a loupe. Bold luster radiates from each side, as expected for the grade, and the coin shows little evidence of highpoint rub. The coloration is reddish-gold, deepening in hue toward the rim, especially on the reverse. In AU58, this piece is one of only two so fine certified at PCGS, with no Uncirculated pieces graded. Listed on page 373 of the 2009 Guide Book.

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# ANJV, PCGS# 10288, GSID# 11859)

View Certification Details from PCGS