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

Related posts:

1. How To Collect Charlotte Gold Coins
2. Gold Coin Expert, Douglas Winter, Updates His Latest Book: Gold Coins of the Charlotte Mint
3. Carolina Circle Collection of Charlotte Gold
4. Giant Gold Rush Ingots at Long Beach Expo
5. Investors Rush to Gold
6. Gold rush makes a mint
7. Another Gold Rush for Wilmington Depository
8. Australian Coin forger’s Charlotte Medal fetches a pretty penny
9. 28-year high sparks new gold rush
10. Soaring Gold Prices Create New Rush