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Coin with a story.

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In 2002 my youngest daughter was in 4th grade. We live in the SF Bay Area, and in the local school district the 4th graders go for a 5 day field trip to the Gold Country to learn about CA. history (and geology, botany etc.). I was one of the parents that signed on to be a volunteer on that trip. Being a coin junkie, it seemed appropriate to try and bring a little something along. I went to the local B&M to try and pick up something for the trip. They had some CA. fractionals, but I knew that for 9 - 10 year olds, you'd want something with more heft than that. I ended up getting this piece. Obviously I know that it was minted in Philly and the odds are high that there was no CA. gold in it, but it did have the magic date. During the field trip the kids did get to see some gold nuggets at museums (and stores) and go panning for gold (some kids got some flakes), but this coin seemed to really spark their (and their teacher's and parent's) interest... it Was Money. Having the date on it seemed to make the stories they were hearing more Real for everyone. I kept this coin as a pocket piece during the field trip and for about 6 months afterwards. It was fun to see the kids faces as they held this coin in their hands. The images are by Shane Canup and I think he did an excellent job.

 

SC1849E2.jpg

SC1849ERev.jpg

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Your much more braver than I would be to make this a pocket piece, even for a day!

 

I know the "heft" of gold and the mesmerizing qualities it holds, those kids were lucky to hold a piece of history.

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Cool story.

 

When we took our 10-year old to the Marshall Gold Discovery State Park in Coloma, one of the docents in the museum had an eagle and double eagle in a leather pouch he'd let the kids hold to feel the heft of the coin. My daughter must have my lack of tact because when the docent wanted to know what she thought of the coin she said, "My dad already showed me one of these." doh! Next time say, "WOW!"

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...My daughter must have my lack of tact because when the docent wanted to know what she thought of the coin..."

 

Ah yes, docents, here's another story, this one regarding my eldest daughter. She was 8ish and was begging for us to get a dog (which we eventually did do), so she had dogs on the mind. She went on a school field trip to a museum. When she came back she talked about the people who would tell her and her classmates about the various things they were seeing in the museum. She said (more or less), "You know those people, the dachshunds"...

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Any story that gets kids involved/fascinated by coin collecting is a good story. It took years before my daughter actually uttered the words "cool" when I showed her a coin & that was when I showed her some Chinese Panda bullion. Oh well, it's a start.

I am however getting suspicious that she might be a spy sent in by my wife. Every time a coin comes in the mail she'll ask me "and how much did that cost?" lol

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Actually the chances are rather good that the gold in the coin came from California. The mintage of the eagle made a BIG jump. The east coast gold fields weren't putting out that much gold, and the gold being produced in California was going somewere.

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Gold eagles from that era are surprisingly scarce. I learned that when I saw the Eliasberg collection on display at the Philadelphia mint in 1976. I was especially struck by how few Mint State coins were in his collection of mid 19th century $10 gold pieces. It confirmed what I read from other sources. These coins were used, not saved by collectors and high grade examples are very rare.

 

Your 1849 $10 gold is an attractive piece, and it might contain some California gold. Believe or not a lot of the gold that went into Charlotte and Dahlonega gold coins in the 1850s came from California. Returning miners brought it back with them, and the southern gold fields were largely played out by that time.

 

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