1849 California Gold - Pacific Company Silver

Coin Details

Auction Record

$88,125 MS62 01-04-2017 Heritage Auctions

Description

This silver striking attributed to the Pacific Company represents a non-gold metal variant of the firm's 1849 California coinage. Silver pieces bearing Pacific Company attribution are unusual within the California territorial gold series, as private minters in Gold Rush California overwhelmingly worked in gold, the metal that defined the era and drove the economy. The existence of silver Pacific Company pieces raises several interpretive possibilities. They may be contemporary trial strikes produced to test dies before committing precious gold to full production runs. Alternatively, they could be later restrikes produced for the numismatic market once the original dies or copies became available. Regardless of the precise circumstances of production, silver Pacific Company pieces are significant numismatic artifacts that preserve die impressions from one of California's most enigmatic private minting operations. The silver medium often yields sharper detail than gold, as the metal's flow characteristics under striking pressure can produce more complete filling of die recesses. Silver Pacific Company pieces are collected alongside the gold originals and base-metal variants as part of the complete Pacific Company series, with each metal variant telling a different part of the story of this obscure Gold Rush enterprise.

Rarity Notes

Extremely rare. Silver specimens from the Pacific Company are known in very small numbers.

Cross References

Kagin reference series. Pacific Company, silver striking.