Mount Ophir, California
Mount Ophir | |
|---|---|
Mount Ophir Location in California Mount Ophir Mount Ophir (the United States) | |
| Coordinates: 37°30′53″N 120°03′53″W / 37.51472°N 120.06472°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | Mariposa County |
| Founded | 1850 |
Mount Ophir is a ghost town in Mariposa County, California, United States. Founded in 1850 during the California Gold Rush, it was the site of the Mount Ophir Mint, an assay and stamping operation that produced octagonal $50 gold slugs under the authority of Augustus Humbert, the first U.S. Assayer of Gold in California.[1]
The settlement grew along a main road in the southern Sierra Nevada foothills and supported stores, a hotel, and mining operations during the early 1850s. The area's mining claims later became the subject of Merced Mining Co. v. Frémont (1859), a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States (58 U.S. 542). A post office operated under the name "Ophir" from 1852, changed to "Mount Ophir" in 1856 to avoid confusion with Ophir in Placer County.
Mount Ophir declined after the mint closed in 1853 and miners moved to more productive sites. The town was largely abandoned by the late 1850s. Ruins of the stamping mill and stone trading post foundations remain at the site.
Geography
Mount Ophir is in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada in Mariposa County, southwest of Mariposa, along the road that historically connected the southern mines to the San Joaquin Valley.
The name derives from Ophir, the biblical land of gold, applied to several mining sites in California during the Gold Rush.[2]
History
Founding and early settlement
Mount Ophir was established in 1850 as a mining camp in the southern Sierra Nevada foothills. During its peak in the early 1850s, stores and tents extended along the main road for a considerable distance. In 1852, a two-story frame hotel was constructed. In 1854, Louis Trabucco purchased a stone-walled trading post that served miners and packers traveling through the area. The stone walls of the Trabucco trading post are among the surviving ruins at the site.
Mount Ophir Mint (1850–1853)
The Mount Ophir Mint, a gold stamping operation established in 1850–1851 by Moffat and Company, a private assaying firm, is the settlement's best-documented feature. The operation functioned under the authority of Augustus Humbert, appointed U.S. Assayer of Gold in California by the federal government in 1850 under the Fillmore administration.[1][3]
The mint produced octagonal gold slugs with a fifty-dollar denomination. On February 14, 1851, the San Francisco Prices Current reported that production of the $50 pieces was imminent, noting that the coins would be "of uniform value" and accepted "for duties and other dues to the United States government."[4]
Humbert's office was authorized to assay and stamp gold into standardized pieces accepted as legal tender, but it was not a mint in the statutory sense.[1] Much of the coinage produced at Mount Ophir was later melted down into government ingots.[1] The stamping operation ceased by 1853 as the federal government expanded capacity at the San Francisco Mint.
Mining claims and Merced Mining Co. v. Frémont (1859)
The gold-bearing lands around Mount Ophir fell within John C. Frémont's Rancho Las Mariposas land grant. Disputes over mining rights led to the case of Merced Mining Co. v. Frémont, which reached the Supreme Court of the United States in 1859 (58 U.S. 542). The Court's ruling affirmed the validity of the Rancho Las Mariposas patent, affecting miners who had established claims on the property.
Post office
A U.S. Post Office was established at the settlement in 1852 under the name "Ophir."[2] In 1856, the name was changed to "Mount Ophir" to avoid confusion with Ophir in Placer County.[2]
Decline and abandonment
Mount Ophir's population declined after the mint closed in 1853. As accessible placer and surface deposits were worked out, miners moved to more productive areas. The town could not compete with larger, more established camps such as Mariposa and Hornitos. By the late 1850s, Mount Ophir was largely depopulated. The stone ruins of the trading post and mill foundations are the primary physical remains.
Numismatic legacy
The $50 octagonal gold slugs produced at Mount Ophir are prized by numismatists. The 1851 Humbert slugs are among the most recognizable pieces of private gold coinage from the California Gold Rush era.[1] Examples have sold at major auction houses; a specimen was offered at Christie's in New York in January 2006.[4]
The question of whether the Mount Ophir operation constituted California's "first mint" has been debated. The operation was authorized by the federal government but did not hold formal mint status.
See also
- 1851 $50 Humbert
- Augustus Humbert
- Moffat and Company
- Rancho Las Mariposas
- Mount Bullion, Mariposa County, California
- Hornitos, California
- Mormon Bar, California
References
- ^ a b c d e Kagin, Donald H. (1981). Private Gold Coins and Patterns of the United States. New York: Arno Publications. ISBN 0-668-04830-1.
- ^ a b c Gudde, Erwin G. (2004). California Place Names: The Origin and Etymology of Current Geographical Names (4th ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-24217-3.
- ^ Cottin, Charles M. (1949). Moffatt & Co's Mount Ophir Mint. Chicago: Hewitt Bros. OCLC 58879187.
- ^ a b "Lot 776: 1851 Augustus Humbert, U.S. Assayer of Gold, California. $50 gold slug". Christie's, New York. January 20, 2006. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007.
Further reading
- Cottin, Charles M. (1949). Moffatt & Co's Mount Ophir Mint. Chicago: Hewitt Bros. OCLC 58879187.
- Kagin, Donald H. (1981). Private Gold Coins and Patterns of the United States. New York: Arno Publications. ISBN 0-668-04830-1.
- Gudde, Erwin G. (1975). California Gold Camps. Berkeley: University of California Press. OCLC 1432882.