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1830 $2 1/2 Templeton Reid Quarter Eagle -- Repaired -- NGC Details. XF....
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Description
1830 Templeton Reid Quarter Eagle, XF Details
Rare Georgia Gold Rush Issue
First Territorial Private Gold Coiner
1830 $2 1/2 Templeton Reid Quarter Eagle -- Repaired -- NGC
Details. XF. Templeton Reid was a Milledgeville, Georgia metal
worker, manufacturer of cotton gins, jeweler, watchmaker, and
gunsmith in the early 1800s. His short-lived venture as the first
private minter of gold coins lasted less than three months in 1830,
despite the obvious need to convert gold dust into circulating
coinage during America's first gold rush in the Southern
Appalachians. While Reid was visionary about the need for an
alternative to federal coinage of gold, he was an inexperienced
assayer and unprepared for the public's keen suspicion of private
specie. Templeton Reid produced three denominations: $2 1/2, $5,
and $10 gold coins during the period from August to October 1830.
This coinage is considered to be the first privately issued
circulating gold coins in our nation's history, and in many
respects the gold coins Reid struck should have served the area
well. Almost immediately, questions about the weight and fineness
of the coins, as well as the legality of such an enterprise doomed
the private mint. Local newspapers -- while initially supportive of
Reid's operation -- soon complained about the lightweight planchets
even though the fineness exceeded federal standards. The Georgia
Courier wrote:"We are informed that Mr. Reid has terminated his operations since the sitting of the Legislature, and if nothing is done on this subject, that several others are prepared to furnish our friends on the frontier with five dollar gold pieces to pay their subscription to the Georgia Courier."
The present coin is one of Templeton Reid's two-and-a-half dollar gold pieces (America's first "quarter eagle") produced at Reid's Gainesville, Georgia assay office. The coin is struck on a wavy flan with some minor tooling and edge repair. The strike is weak at the lower portion of both sides, as if the dies were misaligned. Most of Templeton Reid's coinage was melted by the U.S. Mint, leaving only two dozen or so survivors of this historic gold issue.
Auction Info
2022 May 4 - 8 Central States US Coins Signature® Auction #1344 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
May, 2022
4th-8th
Wednesday-Sunday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 25
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 567
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
20% of the successful bid per lot.
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