Lot 4238
1849 Norris, Gregg & Norris (San Francisco) $5 Gold. Reeded edge. PCGS graded AU-53. Bold strike. Nice details for grade. Lightly toned. A prize example of this early, possibly first Territorial gold issue, the surface containing much of its original bloom from the dies. The toning shades stylishly from lighter to "warmer" (that is, orange-gold) hues, and both sides are so constituted, both sides beautiful as they are free of spots or planchet defects. The 5 on the shield is clearly discernible. The rims, too, are very choice for the Type.
A good place to begin to learn all there is to know about Territorial issues is Dr. Donald Kagin's "Private Gold Coins and Patterns of the United States." Kagin reports that the first company answering the plea for a coinage in California during the heady days of the Gold Rush in 1849 "is generally believed to have been Norris, Gregg, & Norris. Historian Edgar H. Adams claims they were first on the grounds that they were the first coiners to be cited in the California newspapers. The firm is also the first company mentioned in Eckfeldt and DuBois' book, New Varieties of Gold and Silver Coins (1850). Some private gold coiners, however, never were cited in California papers." Of course, many of these early firms, whose business records are almost nonexistent, could have issued products prior to those from Norris, Gregg, & Norris. Dr. Kagin suggests Bowie & Company and Meyers & Company as possibilities. Just the same, on May 31, 1849, in the first known reference to private coinage to appear in any of the California papers, the editors of the Alta California observed:
"We have in our possession a Five Dollar gold coin, struck at Benicia City, although the imprint is San Francisco. In general appearance it resembles the United States coin of the same value, but it bears the private stamp of 'Norris, Grieg, & Norris', and is in other particulars widely different." [Note the misspelling of Gregg.] Pop 5; 7 in 55; 5 in 58; 1 in 60; 1 in 61; 2 in 62. (PCGS # 10282) .
Estimated Value $14,000 - 16,000.
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| Realized $17,825 |
