View All 1860 Clark, Gruber & Co. Patterns, Die Trials, and Restrikes

1860 Proof Clark, Gruber & Co. Ten Dollar Die Trial - K-3, Copper

Strike Type

Coin Details

Year

1860

Denomination

Territorial

Strike Type

Proof

Series

Colorado Gold (1860-1861)

Composition

Copper

Auction Record

Price realized: $29,375
Sold: 1 January 2013
Grade: Genuine
Auction house: Stack's Bowers

Description

This is a copper proof striking from the dies of the 1860 Clark, Gruber & Co. ten-dollar piece. Austin M. Clark, Milton E. Clark and Emanuel H. Gruber ran a brokerage firm in Leavenworth, Kansas, and opened an office in Denver during the Pikes Peak gold rush. To save the cost of shipping gold dust east they opened a mint in a two-story brick building at Market and 16th Streets on July 25, 1860, first striking ten-dollar pieces showing a mountain with PIKES PEAK GOLD and DENVER, and soon twenty-, five- and two-and-a-half-dollar pieces. Over almost three years they coined $594,305 in gold, and in April 1863 the Treasury bought the building, which became a United States Assay Office. It is a die trial, struck from Clark, Gruber & Co. dies in a base metal, not one of the gold coins. Catalogue number: K-3. PCGS number 10172.