Nevada's Storied Carson City Mint
The Carson City Mint is one of our more storied institutions. The coins struck there have long been a favorite of collectors and at the present time, for example, Morgan dollars with the CC mintmark are in strong demand for several key dates.
In many ways the rise of this mint parallels the Western mining boom in silver. Prior to 1859 little silver was mined in the United States but this was to change when Peter O'Reilly and Patrick McLaughlin discovered a large outcropping of silver near Johntown, Nev.
Prospector Henry Comstock later stumbled on the rich find and claimed he had found it days before. The discoverers, fearing a lawsuit, reluctantly gave Comstock an equal share; for some perverse reason the find later became known as the Comstock Lode. Comstock and McLaughlin sold out for relatively small sums and were soon broke. O'Reilly did a little better at $50,000 but unfortunately had a good ear for spirit voices, which told him to sink a worthless shaft in a barren mountain.
The outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 created an insatiable demand for gold and silver to fund the Union war effort. Great sums of money were needed to pay for war materiels imported from Europe. Every bit of ore that could be taken from the ground was important.
There was an unexpected result to all of this activity. Local citizens decided that, if California could have a mint, why not Nevada? . . .
Full story at: Link
In many ways the rise of this mint parallels the Western mining boom in silver. Prior to 1859 little silver was mined in the United States but this was to change when Peter O'Reilly and Patrick McLaughlin discovered a large outcropping of silver near Johntown, Nev.
Prospector Henry Comstock later stumbled on the rich find and claimed he had found it days before. The discoverers, fearing a lawsuit, reluctantly gave Comstock an equal share; for some perverse reason the find later became known as the Comstock Lode. Comstock and McLaughlin sold out for relatively small sums and were soon broke. O'Reilly did a little better at $50,000 but unfortunately had a good ear for spirit voices, which told him to sink a worthless shaft in a barren mountain.
The outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 created an insatiable demand for gold and silver to fund the Union war effort. Great sums of money were needed to pay for war materiels imported from Europe. Every bit of ore that could be taken from the ground was important.
There was an unexpected result to all of this activity. Local citizens decided that, if California could have a mint, why not Nevada? . . .
Full story at: Link
posted by A.C. Dwyer at 11:46 AM
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