A Tale of Two Mints

When most people think of the American gold rush, they think of the Forty Niners. But almost fifty years before California made headlines, another state would see its golden claim to fame. Sixteen years after the American Revolution’s conclusion, North Carolina shone bright with promise.   

Picture this: The year is 1799 and its Sunday morning in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. Rather than sitting in church, Conrad Reed – the adolescent son of a Revolutionary War soldier – is fishing on the banks of a creek on the family property. Casting his line, Conrad spots something twinkling on the shoreline. Curious, he wades into the creek and comes out with whopping seventeen-pound gold nugget.

Conrad Reed’s discovery that fateful day would directly lead to not one but two southern U.S. Mint locations.   

There’s gold in them there hills!

Hopeful miners flocked to the South. Soon, the area surrounding the Smoky Mountains was riddled with professionals and novices alike searching for gold. At one point there were over 55 mines operating during North Carolina’s gold rush alone! Boomtowns – once small towns that saw their populations expand seemingly overnight – began to pop up across the gold belt.

Continuing through the Appalachian Mountains, settlers soon discovered that Georgia also had its own pockets of gold. Originally inhabited by members of the Cherokee Nation, the area surrounding current-day Dahlonega was known as “Dalonige” or “Talonega” meaning “yellow.”

Similar to North Carolina’s gold rush, the discovery of gold in Georgia was also due to chance. While out hunting one day, a local man tripped over a rock only to realize it was full of gold. Having been left alone after centuries of rain and erosion from the mountains, the yellow mineral could be found resting on top of the ground. In over a year’s time, roughly 15,000 miners had made their way to Dahlonega hoping to strike it rich.

By the early 1830s, North Carolina and Georgia were regularly supplying the government with domestic gold.

However, with the country’s only mint more than 500 miles away in Philadelphia and the U.S. still importing gold from Europe, action needed to be taken. In 1835, with the support of President Andrew Jackson, the cities of Charlotte, North Carolina and Dahlonega, Georgia were given the greenlight to establish new U.S. Mint locations.   

Two is better than one

Thirty-six years after Conrad’s discovery, ground was broken. With construction for the mints in Charlotte and Dahlonega underway, they quickly earned the nickname “the twin mints.” Built the same year with authorization to issue only certain coins, it’s easy to see why.

By 1838, both the Charlotte and Dahlonega Mints had officially opened.

Serving as the first mint outside of Philadelphia, North Carolina’s doors opened in 1837. Limited to processing gold, the Charlotte Mint only handled raw gold for its first few months. Finally, in March 1838, the mint began to issue its first coins – the $5 gold half eagle. Struck with the “C” mint mark, coins from Charlotte would also include $2.50 gold quarter eagles and $1 gold coins.

When we see the “D” on coins, odds are that we automatically think of the Denver Mint. But before Denver, there was Dahlonega. Opened for business in February 1838, Georgia’s mint handled the gold found in the surrounding area. Just like its twin, Dahlonega would first strike $5 gold half eagles before adding $2.50 gold quarter eagles and $1 gold coins to its repertoire. And – for one-year-only in 1854 – the mint would strike $3 gold pieces.

From 1838 through 1860, operations would proceed as normal. However, the year that Abraham Lincoln stepped into the White House and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology opened, production came to a screeching halt.

When one door closes

As tension between the North and South came to a head, the fate of these Southern mints hung in the balance. Just months after the Civil War started in 1861, the Dahlonega Mint closed. Several months later, the Charlotte Mint would follow suit.

The next four years would see both mints take on different roles. The Charlotte Mint would serve as Confederate Headquarters and a hospital while the Dahlonega Mint would house an assayer.  

After the war’s conclusion in 1865, neither building would reopen – at least not as a mint.

The Charlotte Mint became an assay office until 1913 when it was transformed into a Red Cross station during World War I. After the war, the former mint building would lay dormant until 1931 when fate intervened. A plan to demolish the building was proposed but (thanks to concerned citizens) it was purchased from the U.S. government. Converted into a fine art museum, the Mint Museum showcases a wide variety of art and – most exciting of all – some of its original coins!

Compared its twin, the Dahlonega Mint would lead a quieter life after the Civil War. During the Reconstruction era, Georgia’s mint would become the home of federal troops. Then, in 1873, the government donated the historic building to North Georgia Agricultural College (better known as the University of North Georgia.) Unfortunately, five short years later, the building burned down. In its place, a new facility was built on top of the mint’s original granite foundation.  

All that glitters

Over the course of twenty-three years, each mint would strike more than 1 million coins. But today, these coins are difficult to find and even harder to acquire. Don’t worry though! If you’re looking for that timeless glimmer of gold in your collection, we’ve got you covered with gold coins from the U.S. and around the world.

As best said in the words of playwright, William Shakespeare, “Gold – what can it not do, and undo?” Have you toured any of the U.S. Mint locations? Which facility is your favorite to collect from? Tell me in the comments below!

Sources:

Littleton Coin Company. “The U.S. Mints.” Accessed February 11, 2025 https://www.littletoncoin.com/shop/US-Mints

North Carolina Historic Sites. “Site of the First Documented Discovery of Gold in the United States.” Accessed February 11, 2025 https://historicsites.nc.gov/all-sites/reed-gold-mine/history

CoinWeek. “US Mint History – The Story of the Charlotte Mint.” Accessed February 11, 2025 https://coinweek.com/the-story-of-the-charlotte-nc-mint

Levine Museum of the New South. “Charlotte US Mint.” Accessed February 11, 2025 https://www.museumofthenewsouth.org/digital/charlotte-us-mint

Lester, Carl. “An Illustrated History of the Georgia Gold Rush and the United States Branch Mint at Dahlonega, Georgia.” Accessed February 11, 2025 https://www.goldrushgallery.com/dahlmint/c_history_outline.html

Julian, R.W. “Dahlonega mint offers storied history.” Accessed February 11, 2025 https://www.numismaticnews.net/world-coins/dahlonega-mint-offers-storied-history