Gold was discovered in North Carolina in 1799 and in Georgia in 1828.  What ensued was the first gold rush in the United States and the establishment of private mints of the Bechtlers' and of Templeton Reed.  Due to the success of thess private mints Congress passed a law for the contruction and operation of branch mints at Charlotte, NC,  New Orleans, LA, and for town of  Dahlonega in Lumpkin County, Georgia.  The Dahlonega mint produced over $6,000,000 in gold coins of four denominations, most of them crudely made in comparison to the sophisticated mother mint in Philadelphia.  It is this Southern charm, backwoods spirit, and pre-civil war history of the Dahlonega gold coins that make them so appealing.  All Dahlonega coins are scarce to exceedingly rare with only 10000 coins total existing today.  Most have tiny mintages not exceeding 100,000 coins for any issue with some less than one thousand.  Choice, highly graded original pieces are rare and command premium prices.  

     The following pages of this site are devoted to the history of the Dahlonega MInt,  the Dahlonega Type set of gold coins, and lastly links for further information.