1860 CLARK GRUBER CO. PIKES PEAK GOLD $20 TWENTY D. DENVER COPY 1860 COIN EAGLE COIN Start Price USD 1.99 Current Price USD 32.69 Time Left - Bid Count 6 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Thursday, July 24, 2008 End Time Thursday, July 31, 2008 Location Denver, Colorado See more about '1860 CLARK GRUBER CO. PIKES PEAK GOLD $20' Description  Cripple Creek Auctions, Inc.   1860 CLARK GRUBER CO. PIKES PEAK GOLD $20 TWENTY D. DENVER COPY 1860 COIN EAGLE COIN I am a Trading Assistant - I can sell items for you! This is a very unique and unusal coin It is a 1860 CLARK GRUBER & CO. PIKES PEAK GOLD DENVER COPY TWENTY D.   Clark, Gruber & Co. 1860 $20   Minted: 1860   Issued by: Clark, Gruber & Co. Number Issued: Not many, 11-14 known to still exist Format: Gold Size: 23mm Obverse: Pikes Peak Gold - Denver - Twenty D.Reverse: Clark Gruber & Co. 1860 This coin has been reproduced in a restrike. Second Striking - Restrike in 1956 Restrike by J.J. Conway & Company Minted - 200 or so in the restrike Format - Restrike in Goldine Obverse: Pikes Peak Gold - Denver - R - Twenty D.Reverse: Clark Gruber & Co. 1860 Below is the front and back of the restriked coin that was re-minted in 1956   Notice, that the restrike from 1956 clearly has the "R" minted onto the coin which clearly shows that this was a "Restrike" However, we do not believe this coin is part of the limited restrike coins and we will give you the reasons why we do not believe this is a restrike The coin we are offering does not have the "R" Below the Denver.   However, our coin clearly says DENVER COPY    Even so the restrike is also rare. Robert W. Hoge has this to say about the coin on the American Numismatic Association website; "Near the confluence of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River, the present site of Denver, Colorado, a party of prospectors from Georgia discovered productive placer deposits of very pure gold in the summer of 1858. The great 'Pikes Peak or Bust Gold Rush' resulted. As major strikes continued, the population burgeoned, and commerce quickly felt the need for an increased money supply. Several private firms took up the challenge, and began to mint their own coins."  This was done because of the difficulty in transacting business in gold dust. The highly regarded Leavenworth, Kansas, mercantile and banking firm of Clark, Gruber & Co. determined to establish a mint in Denver and issue gold coins valued at $2 1/2, $5, $10, and $20. With machinery and equipment bought in Philadelphia and New York, production began in July 1860. Each coin actually contained more gold than its United States government counterpart, with an intrinsic value slightly higher than its face value. This, combined with the savings of 10% for the freight and insurance costs to send raw gold east for minting--a lengthy and uncertain procedure at best — made the new coins immediately popular among the miners and merchants. In 1864, the Federal Government purchased the coining equipment of Clark Gruber & Co., to operate a mint in Denver. While it functioned as an assay office, it was not until 1906 that the mint was finally established. In commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the mint, two hundred sets of J.J.Conway coins were restruck in goldine (a brass alloy) from the original dies in 1956. This is why there was a restrike - to commemorate the original minting.   But, we can only assume that this coin is a latter restriking because it says DENVER COPY   We do know that an original coin sold in 2006 for $690,000 by Heritage   If you visit the website of Heritage you can see a picture of an original coin and information about the auction.  There web site is http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=394&Lot_No=3673&type=prte-pr010906a&ic=   The auction company also gave some great historical information as they sold an original coin. It was known by the late 1700s and early 1800s that gold existed in the territory that would eventually become Colorado, but it was not until the fall of 1857 that news of Colorado gold spread widely from the area. In the last few years of the decade, prospectors made their way to that area. The first large area of habitation was Denver City, named for James W. Denver, governor of Kansas Territory. This area was initially known as the Territory of Jefferson, later as the Territory of Colorado, and eventually the State of Colorado. Along with gold discoveries came the challenges of handling the gold and converting it to coin. Brokerage firms soon opened to handle the exchange, shipping the gold east to be minted into coin. This process took a great deal of time, and was quite risky due to the potential of loss by robbery. Eventually, it was important that a local coinage operation opened, and Clark, Gruber became the most important producer of gold coin in Colorado. Austin and Milton Clark were grocers operating in Leavenworth, Kansas. The brothers were from Brown County, Ohio, along the Ohio River, just east of Cincinnati. The brothers sold substantial materials to prospectors traveling to this new El Dorado, and eventually decided to open their own banking business in Denver City. They formed a partnership with Emanuel Henry Gruber, a former cashier at a St. Louis banking firm, with a sound knowledge of banking principals and procedures. In Private Gold Coins and Patterns of the United States, Don Kagin reproduced a newspaper interview that took place with Gruber in 1904. This is of such importance for an understanding of the times, that we have reproduced it here as well: "My firm was one of the heaviest purchasers of gold dust in the early days. And when we bought a large quantity of dust, we had to ship it to the states to have it coined into money. This was a rather expensive proceeding, as there were only stage coaches and pony express reaching this city in those days, and we had to pay 5 percent of the value of the dust as an insurance against loss in transit and another 5 percent expressage. Our dust was out of our hands anywhere from three weeks to three months, and often times the cash we would have in transit would total nearly $300,000. This was considerable money to have and yet not be able to use for months at a time, so one day the idea struck me that the firm of Clark, Gruber & Co. bankers should also become coiners. I spoke to one of my partners, Austin M. Clark, who with his brother, Milton E. Clark, was interested in all my enterprises in those days, about the matter. He was a lawyer, and after spending several days looking up the authorities gave it his opinion that there was no law of the United States which could be construed as against the coining of money by individuals, provided it was made of full weight. Not entirely satisfied, I consulted two of the most prominent attorneys in the state of Kansas on this matter, and their opinion was the same as that of my partner, Mr. Clark. We went ahead then and ordered the machinery required in the coining of gold, and in 1860 built the old Mint building, which still stands at the corner of Sixteenth and Market streets, and having installed our machinery set to work to turn the dust of the miners into coin of our company. Total output of the Clark, Gruber & Co. Mint was $594,305 in gold coinage of four different denominations. An 1861 assay of their coinage, conducted at the Philadelphia Mint, indicated that the Clark, Gruber coinage was of at least the stated value, or a bit greater.   That is the history and the coin we are offering in this lot clearly says DENVER COPY   We have not been able to determine when this coin was minted.  If anyone has any information, we will gladly pass it along.  Being a copied coin does not make it a coin worth thousands, but it will be sold to the high bidder and the market will determine it's value     Please Note:  We sold a coin very similar to this a couple weeks ago.  That coin was in better condition and we offered it first.  This is the second and last coin that came from the same estate.  This coin has two holes that have been drilled into the coin.  This coin was attached to a gold chain and very nice pocket watch.  The watch was sold in a separate auction.  This coin and the other coin has been in a private collection for many years and it was inherited by a family after the man passed away. We are now selling items from this estate for the family   So again, please note, there have been two small holes drilled into the coin.  On the side that says, PIKES PEAK GOLD the holes are by the "K" in PEAK   Please Note:  To help everyone understand our type of business we need to inform bidders that we sell used items, our items come from people and individual collectors and not companies.  The items are not new in the box and nothing we have ever sold has been perfect or mint.  We try and list any major defect - but every item has been used and will show degree of wear. And, sometimes it is hard to describe the degree of wear or use and everyone's perception and standards are different.  So, if you are concerned about specific details of any item, please email us and we will try and answer you questions.  We say this because some people believe that when they buy items on ebay they expect them to look new - even if they are 50 years old.  So please understand that our items are old and used and none are perfect.  My Policies: Please understand that INSURANCE is the OPTION and the RESPONSIBILITY of the BUYER and we never add insurance to an item unless instructed to do so by the BUYER. Therefore we are not responsible for lost or damaged items by the Post Office or other delievery company. We do everything to pack each item carefully, but we cannot control how the item is handled once we ship it. Therefore consider insurance carefully on fragile and rare items. Insurance is always listed at $1.65 and that covers insurance for the first $50.00. Insurance is then charged at the same rate as the post office, $1.65 for each additional $100.00 of insurance desired. Thank you. All Sales shipped in the State of Colorado will require a 6.85% Sales Tax. This is required by the Colorado Department of Revenue. Thank you for your understanding. Because of recent changes in Ebay and Paypal, virtually all items must be shipped with delivery confirmation to protect the Buyer and Seller. This has increased the cost of First class Mailing. Please understand this is the result of Ebay trying to elimate the problems of fraud in the Ebay marketplace and we are in agreement that Ebay must be a safe place for people to shop. On items that have a value of over $200 - Signature Confirmation is now required. This also is the policy of Ebay and Paypal. This has affected the cost of shipping items of value. We do not charge a handling fee on items we ship and we try and estimate as close as possible the actual cost of shipping. We normally ship items via priority mail with delivery confirmation because we have found that this is often the most feasible way to ship boxed items. However, we are shipping more and more items via DHL or Fed Ex because tracking and insurance is included in their shipping charges up to $100.00. If we list the option of shipping as "OTHER" - this means we are shipping the item via DHL or FED EX GROUND and we need a physical address to ship to and thus no P.O. Boxes are allowed on DHL or FED EX Shipments. On books we ship via book rate and on items that can fit into an envelope or manilla folder we will ship first class or media mail with delivery confirmation. We always are happy to combine shipping to save you money. If we combine items to save on shipping costs, we just ask that you settle up within two weeks of the first item sold. We do not wish to hold items for more than two weeks - waiting to ship it with some other auction. If you would like an item shipped in a certain way - we will be happy to do whatever you wish. But if you request custom shipping or the use of extra supplies, we will charge for the cost of extra supplies. ALL SHIPPING QUOTES ARE FOR U.S. DELIVERY ONLY!!!! Concerning International Shipments - ALL INTERNATIONAL BIDDERS WILL PAY THE ACTUAL INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING CHARGES. International Bidders, please be aware that shipping around the world cost more than it does to ship within a country. Do not bid if you are unwilling to pay the International Shipping Rates which are often high. Because of the recent postal changes, Insurance is no longer available on International First Class Mail. Insurance is only available through the Post Office if an item is shipped via International Priority Mail. And, because of recent policy changes in Ebay and Paypal, they encourage that all shipments be sent with tracking. So, we also request that all International Shipping be sent via Priority Mail with delivery confirmation. This is expensive and so only bid if you are aware of the high cost of shipping. We will quote First Class Mailing Cost, but we do not recommend this method of shipping. Any item over $100 in value we will REQUIRE INSURANCE if we ship internationally. Please Note: WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR LOST OR DAMAGED ITEMS. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR SHIPMENTS THAT ARE SLOW DUE TO THE POST OFFICE. Therefore, International Bidders should carefully consider Insurance.   Another auction from Cripple Creek Auctions, Inc. Thank you ......... Bob & Susan - Cripple Creek Auctions, Inc. 21517 East Wanderlust Place Parker, Colorado 80138 Phone: 720-984-4060 or 303-795-0265 or email us at: rmihrig@aol.com I am a Trading Assistant - I can sell items for you! NEED SOMEONE TO SELL YOUR ANTIQUES AND COLLECTIBLES ON EBAY?  THAT IS WHAT WE DO.  EMAIL US AT RMIHRIG@AOL.COM FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT OUR SERVICES.   Thank you ......... Bob & Susan - Cripple Creek Auctions, Inc. 21517 East Wanderlust Place Parker, Colorado 80138 Phone: 720-984-4060 or 303-795-0265 or email us at: rmihrig@aol.com I am a Trading Assistant - I can sell items for you! Legal Notice We have had virtually no problems on Ebay with buyers, as we stand behind our merchandise and try very hard to treat people in the way we would want to be treated.  Our feedback rating is 99.9% and most every Ebay Trade has been a great experience.  However, it is also true that you cannot please everyone 100% of the time.  And, we are sure there will be a time when a person may not be 100% happy with their Ebay Purchase.  Therefore, as a buyer - it must be noted that you agree to the following conditions before you purchase any item from us.  First, if there is a problem with any item we ask that you first contact us and let us try and resolve any problem you might have.  Contact us before any feedback is left.  We believe we will be able to solve 99% of any problems.  Secondly, if we cannot solve your problem or complaint, we ask that you accept Ebay's Resolution and Safety recommendation, as we will abide by their suggestions and recommendations.  They are an unbiased third party that has the safety and concern of all Ebay Members.  Lastly, if you chose not to accept the recommendation of Ebay's Resolution and Safety recommendation, even though you have initially agree to abide by their recommendations, you agree to file any and all legal proceedings in our jurisdiction - which is the State of Colorado and the origin of the original sale.  VIEW MY OTHER LISTINGS ON EBAY Created by eBay Blackthorne ver. 3.2.119.0 Place a Bid!