I just got back from visiting my sister in upstate New York and drove through western North Carolina on the way home. Just north of Rutherfordton on route 221 I spotted a historical marker identifying the site of the Rutherford Mint which was operated by Christopher Bechtler and his son Augustus from 1931 until the late 1840s. There they struck $5.00 and $2.50 gold coins. In 1832, to accommodate the need for a smaller denomination they began striking $1.00 gold coins, 17 years before the United States mint in Philadelphia minted the first $1.00 coins. According to advertisements that have survived they charged a 2 1/2% fee for striking coins from raw gold.
Once the new federal Mint in Charlotte opened in 1838 their coining activity slowly declined and came to an end in the late 1840s. From January 1831 through February 1840 the Bechtlers struck $2,241,840.50 in gold coins. Survivors today are scare and command high prices when offered for sale, especially those issued prior to the Coinage Act of June 28, 1834, which increased the value of gold by more than 6% causing massive melting of the Bechtler coins.
I've held a PCGS graded Bechtler $5.00 in my hand at a show in Dalton Georgia but that's as close as I've come to owning one.
If you've enjoyed reading this go ahead and Google "Rutherford Mint" for access to all kinds of information about the Bechtlers and their coins.
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