Lot 2726
1849 Norris, Gregg & Norris (San Francisco) $5 Gold. Plain edge. NGC graded Unc Details. Bent The surfaces are quite amazing exhibiting full mint frost and a touch of natural tone about the devices. NGC's designation of "Bent" actually refers to a pinch on the obverse rim at 4:30 and a corresponding flaw on the reverse. We suspect that this was possibly done at the mint. A decidely rare coin in such high grade and easily worth our conservative estimate.
According to the Kagin reference on this rare Territorial gold piece:
The first company answering the plea for a coinage in California 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. Any one of them could have issued products prior to those from Norris, Gregg, & Norris. There is a possibility that Bowie & Company and Meyers & Company might have preceded Norris, Gregg & Norris.
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."
Estimated Value $7,000 - 8,000.
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| Realized $6,325 |
