1849 Norris, Gregg & Norris $5. K-4. Rarity-4. Reeded Edge, Period After ALLOY. EF Details--Mount Removed (NGC). Overall bright yellow-gold in color with richer honey-gold accents near the borders. Smooth and glossy from time spent in jewelry, the devices remain overall bold and uniform, even if lacking some finer detail. Evidence of an old mount remains at 12 oclock. A satisfying survivor from this scarce issue. Widely believed to be one of the first of the California private mints, partners Thomas H. Norris, Hiram A. Norris, and Charles Gregg established their firm in Benicia City sometime in early 1849. There is little indication that the coins were anything other than readily accepted in commerce and an assay by Jacob R. Eckfeldt and William E. DuBois substantiated their purity. Unfortunately, history does not record what happened to Norris, Gregg, & Norris; references to the coins in local papers had ceased by 1851, so it is likely that the partners dissolved the firm not long before. Despite what seems to have been a limited emission of coins, four varieties of the 1849 $5 are known with plain and reeded edges, as well as with or without a period after the word ALLOY. This issue is challenging to obtain in any grade, as the vast majority of these did not survive the end of the Gold Rush era in California, most of course melted and converted into newer San Francisco Mint coinage.
