Lot 2637
1861 Clark, Gruber & Co. (Denver, Colorado) $2.50 Gold. NGC graded AU-58. This is an attractive, if indifferently struck example with sharp petite stars around a somewhat softly impressed head of Liberty. The coin nicely mimics the standard U.S. quarter eagles of the period, but with PIKES PEAK on the coronet in place of LIBERTY. The date is in crude numerals, unevenly punched or engraved into the space below the bust. Lustrous, with only slight friction on the high points away from full Mint State grade.
Clark, Gruber & Co., bankers in Leavenworth, Kansas, set up operations in Denver, then a scene of a great gold rush. Images of covered wagons heading west bearing the inscription PIKES PEAK OR BUST are familiar to historians today, and reflect the mass immigration from the east to the Rocky Mountains. Although Pikes Peak (no apostrophe in Pikes, per post office edict) is located about 70 or miles south of Denver, and not particularly relevant to the gold strike in the latter location, it did serve as a catch term for the district.
Estimated Value $8,000 - 9,000.
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