Mount Ophir is a ghost town in
Mariposa County
Mariposa County () is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 17,131. The county seat is Mariposa. It is located in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, north of Fresno, east of ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. It was a
mining town founded in 1850 during the
California Gold Rush, and was the site of the Mount Ophir Mint, the first authorized
mint
MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...
in California.
History
Mount Ophir during the early 1850s was a large camp, and stores and tents straggled along the main road for quite a distance. In 1854, Louis Trabucco purchased the stone-walled trading post in Mount Ophir, which was patronized by miners and packers. Its ruins now stand next to the foundation of a large two-store frame hotel built in 1852. The Post Office opened in 1852 under the name "Ophir" but was changed in 1856 to "Mount Ophir" because of the name conflict with
Ophir
Ophir (; ) is a port or region mentioned in the Bible, famous for its wealth. King Solomon received a shipment from Ophir every three years (1 Kings 10:22) which consisted of gold, silver, sandalwood, pearls, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
...
in
Placer County
Placer County ( ; Spanish for "sand deposit"), officially the County of Placer, is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 404,739. The county seat is Auburn.
Placer County is included in the G ...
.
Mount Ophir Mint
The gold
stamping mill was built in 1850-51 by Moffat and Company, operating under the authority of Augustus Humbert, who had been appointed by President
John Tyler
John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States, serving from 1841 to 1845, after briefly holding office as the tenth vice president in 1841. He was elected vice president on the 1840 Whig tick ...
to be the federal
assayer for the new state of California. The Mount Ophir Mint produced
Octagonal Gold Slugs with a fifty-dollar denomination.
On February 14, 1851 the newspaper, the ''San Francisco Prices Current'', indicated that the production of $50 slugs was about to begin:
''The above cut represents the obverse of the United States ingot, or, rather, coin, of the value of $50, about to be issued at the Government Assay Office. It is precisely of this size and shape.... The reverse side bears an impression of rayed work without any inscription. Upon the edges following: 'Augustus Humbert United States Assayer-California Gold 1851.'... The fifty-dollar pieces will be of uniform value, and will be manufactured in the same manner as coins.... By order of the secretary of the Treasury these ingots and coin are to be received for duties and other dues to the United States government, and our bankers, we are advised, will receive them at their stamped value. This will produce an important change in the monetary affairs here, gold dust will immediately go up, …'' [Quoted a]
"Lot 776 : 1851 Augustus Humbert, U.S. Assayer of Gold, California. $50 gold slug." Christie's, New York, 20 January 2006
Much of the coinage produced by the Mount Ophir Mint was later melted down into government ingots. By 1853 the mint was closed. The ruins of the mill are still visible.
See also
*
*
References
* Cottin, Charles M. (1949) ''Moffatt & Co's Mount Ophir Mint'' Hewitt Bros., Chicago
OCLC 58879187* Kagin, Donald H. (1981) ''Private Gold Coins and Patterns of the United States'' Arno Publications, New York,
Notes
External links
*
ttp://www.mariposaresearch.net/MOUNTOPHIR.html "California's First Mint- Myth or Mystery?"
{{authority control
Former settlements in Mariposa County, California
Mining communities of the California Gold Rush
Ghost towns in California
History of Mariposa County, California
Mints of the United States
Populated places established in 1850
1850 establishments in California