It was a beautiful coin, with a profile of a crowned Lady Liberty on its face surrounded by 13 stars, one each for the original colonies.

And it shone brightly, made of pure gold, gold likely taken from the ground under Charlotte.

On March 28, 1838, the first gold coin — a $5 Half Eagle — was struck at the U.S. Mint branch. It was on West Trade Street where the federal building now stands. The old mint, moved in the 1930s, now houses the Mint Museum on Randolph Road.

The 170th anniversary on Friday connects to other events in the city’s history:

• The first gold rush in the United States, in Charlotte in the early 1800s.

• The first branch of the U.S. Mint, opened in 1837, a sign of the city’s future prosperity.

• The first museum in North Carolina, created when the Mint building was moved to its current site.

The gold rush and the location of a mint branch did not lead, as is sometimes said, to the banks that now tower over uptown. But these historic events made the city an economic center in the region. Read Full Story in the Charlotte Observer