1830 $2 1/2 Templeton Reid Quarter Eagle AU58 PCGS. CAC. K-1, R.6....

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1830 Templeton Reid Quarter Eagle, AU58
Rare Georgia Gold Rush Issue, K-1
First Territorial Gold Minter
Condition Census Example

1830 $2 1/2 Templeton Reid Quarter Eagle AU58 PCGS. CAC. K-1, R.6. The 1830 Templeton Reid quarter eagle is one of the first Territorial gold issues ever struck in the United States, along with their five and ten dollar counterparts. Produced in small numbers during a period of just a few months in 1830, the coins were widely melted for recoinage in later years and all Templeton Reid gold coinage is rare today. PCGS and NGC have combined to certify only 14 examples of the quarter eagle between them, including an unknown number of resubmissions and crossovers (11/23). We have traced what we believe to be 23 separate examples in past rosters of this issue, including five examples in institutional collections, and a sixth coin that was stolen in 1967 and never recovered. Heritage Auctions is privileged to present a Condition Census example of this enigmatic Territorial gold issue in this important offering.

The First Gold Rush
For most Americans, the words "Gold Rush" are synonymous with the massive immigration to California that followed the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in 1848. However, the first major gold rush in the United States actually took place much earlier, in southern Appalachia in the 1820s and 1830s. The first discovery of gold in the area actually took place in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina in 1799, when 12-year-old Conrad Reed found a huge 17-pound nugget in Little Meadow Creek, near Charlotte. Unfortunately, the significance of his find was not recognized at the time, and the Reed family used the nugget as a door stop for several years before someone apprised them of its value. Even then, the Reeds reportedly sold the massive nugget for a song, receiving only $3.50 for their prize. More finds followed sporadically over the years, but the region was inaccessible and news of the potential bonanza was slow to reach the rest of the country. It was not until the late 1820s that large scale mining operations began in Georgia and the Carolinas, and the first documented gold mine in Georgia was reportedly established in 1829. When the news finally spread, the reaction was predictably dramatic and the region was inundated by a flood of prospectors and fortune seekers. Benjamin Parks, a North Carolina native who was one of the earliest prospectors in the Dahlonega area, reminisced in the Atlanta Constitution in 1894:

"The news got abroad, and such excitement you never saw. It seemed within a few days as if the whole world must have heard of it, for men came from every state I had ever heard of. They came afoot, on horseback and in wagons, acting more like crazy men than anything else. All the way from where Dahlonega now stands to Nuckollsville there were men panning out of the branches and making holes in the hillocks."

The influx of miners created chaos in the local economy, which had been conducted on the barter system in earlier times. A practical medium of exchange was desperately needed, as there was virtually no circulating federal currency in the region at the time.

Templeton Reid's Coinage
Into this vortex stepped an enigmatic man of German ancestry named Templeton Reid, who had earlier established himself as a jeweler, watchmaker, gunsmith, and manufacturer of cotton gins in Milledgeville, Georgia. By July 1830, Reid had set up a mint and commenced production of gold coins in two and a half, five, and ten dollar denominations. While several private mints had been established in colonial times, and Ephraim Brasher had produced his famous gold doubloons in 1787, Reid's coins were the first privately issued circulating gold coins manufactured since the ratification of the Constitution. His coinage set an important precedent for later generations of private minters, who would flourish in the much larger California Gold Rush two decades later. Templeton Reid is rightly regarded as the father of the Territorial gold series.

Fort Worth coin dealer B. Max Mehl offered the following description of a Templeton Reid quarter eagle in lot 404 of his B.W. Smith catalog in May of 1915:

"1830 $2.50 Obverse T. REID ASSAYER; in center, 2.50. Rev. GEORGIA GOLD; the date, 1830, in center all within a circle. Milled edge. The lower portion of both the obverse and the reverse not struck as bold as the rest of the coin but is strictly fine for the coin. Excessively rare. One of the rarest of all Pioneer gold coins. The first to be offered in several years. Record about $400."

Mehl's record of $400 was a formidable price for any coin in 1915. Recent sales include the AU55 PCGS example in lot 4443 of the FUN Signature (Heritage, 1/2022), that realized $336,000.

Reid only struck coins for a few months, from July to October of 1830. The coins were initially well-received, but the problems with public confidence and acceptance of the coins that faced all private minters soon developed. Despite his claim to be an assayer, Reid did no chemical refining of the raw gold dust he used to strike his coins. He just separated the gold from the sand and debris that the typical deposit contained. He did not realize that the remaining ore was alloyed with silver, tin, and trace elements. As a result, his quarter eagles were found to have an intrinsic value of only $2.27 when the correct fineness of the gold was used to calculate their value. Opposition to the coins became quite vocal in the local newspapers once their low gold content became known. Faced with public resentment and lack of confidence in his coins, Reid closed his coinage operations by late fall of 1830.

Estimates of Reid's mintage totals vary widely. Dr. Dexter Seymour, who studied Reid's coinage extensively, estimates his output to be between 1,500 and 1,600 coins, including all denominations, for a face value of approximately $7,000. Estimates in contemporary newspaper accounts are much higher, including figures as high as $200,000 in face value. What can be said with certainty is that few examples were saved for numismatic purposes and the coins are rare in all grades today.

The Present Coin
This coin first surfaced in lot 940 of the 1973 ANA Convention Auction (Jess Peters, 8/1973) and was once a highlight of Dr. Dexter Seymour's remarkable collection of Territorial gold. Dr. Seymour did much of the original research on Templeton Reid's coinage and published his findings through the American Numismatic Society's series of Museum Notes in 1974. It last appeared in a Stack's Bowers auction in 2013, where it sold for $329,000.

This impressive near-Mint specimen is the third-finest certified example in the PCGS Population Report and ranks high in the Condition Census for the issue. Only a trace of wear shows on the pleasing orange-gold surfaces, which are lightly abraded for a gold coin that spent some time in circulation. The simple design elements are well-detailed, but the dentilation is weak in some areas on both sides. Traces of original mint luster remain intact in sheltered areas. The outstanding eye appeal and high quality within the grade are confirmed by CAC. This landmark early Territorial gold rarity is seldom offered publicly and it may be years before a comparable example becomes available, once this lot has passed. The discerning collector will bid accordingly. Listed on page 404 of the 2024 Guide Book. This coin is pictured on PCGS CoinFacts, in the Condition Census section. Population: 2 in 58 (1 in 58+), 1 finer. CAC: 2 in 58, 1 finer (11/23).
Ex: ANA Convention Auction (Jess Peters, 8/1973), lot 940; Jack Klausen; Dr. Dexter Seymour Collection; ANA National Money Show (Stack's Bowers, 5/2013), lot 1204, realized $329,000.
From The Old Pioneer Collection.

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 2B8W, PCGS# 10320, Greysheet# 11874)

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