DWN Buys Finest Known Oregon Five Dollar Gold Piece

Douglas Winter Numismatics (DWN), based in Portland, recently purchased the single finest known example of the rare 1849 Oregon “Beaver” five dollar gold piece, graded MS62 by PCGS. The firm bought this coin at the recently-held Stack’s Bowers August 2020 auction acting as an agent for a Southern California collector. The final price realized was $336,000, which is believed to be a record price for this coveted and historic issue.

This issue owes its existence to the fact that a number of Oregonians had returned from the California gold fields in 1849 with gold nuggets in their possession, but with no way to convert these into coins for use in commerce. A number of residents of Oregon City sought to remedy this by establishing the Oregon Exchange Company. It was decided that a mint would be opened and it would strike five dollar and ten dollar gold coins. The former are more available than the latter.

1849 Oregon "Beaver" $5.00 Gold Coin graded PCGS MS62, image courtesy of PCGS

The obverse (or “front”) of the coin shows a beaver on a log surrounded by the initials K.M. T. A. W. R. G. S. These were the initials of the company’s founders. Below the beaver are the initials T.O. (standing for Oregon Territory but actually an engravers error). On the reverse (or “back”) there are listed a value and weight of the coin, the issuer (Oregon Exchange Company), and the fact that it was made from native gold.

In order to get them to be accepted as a medium of exchange, these coins were made with more than five dollars’ worth of gold. But this also ensured that many would be melted as they worth more than face value. It is believed that as many as 5,000-6,000 were made but most were melted and an estimated 50-60 exist. Most are well worn and the Oregon Beaver half eagle is considered a rare issue today in all grades and an iconic design within the specialized collecting field of Pioneer or Territorial gold coinage.

According to Doug Winter, “I’ve been able to trace this coin back to a 1967 auction conducted by Lester Merkin in New York City and later to Auction ’82. More recently, it appeared in the famous Riverboat Collection which was auctioned by Heritage in April 2014. It sold there, in an NGC MS62 holder, for $258,500. It was crossed over from NGC to PCGS by its last owner and consigned to the August 2020 Stack’s Bowers sale,” where it was purchased by Douglas Winter.

This specific coin is regarded as the single finest known of the type. It is the only 1849 Oregon half eagle to have ever been graded Uncirculated by PCGS with the next best being a small group graded AU58.

According to Doug Winter, “this piece has exceptional detail for the issue. You almost never see this design with strong definition on the beaver and this piece is virtually full defined. It also shows far more mint bloom than on any of the Beaver five dollar pieces I have seen.”

As mentioned above, this coin becomes a valued member of an important specialized collection being formed by collector in Southern California. This collector hopes to acquire a $10 Oregon gold piece sometime in the future, which would complete his set of Oregon territorial issues.

For more information on Oregon pioneer issues or to discuss acquiring other US gold coins, please contact Doug Winter by phone at (214) 675-9897 or via email at dwn@ont.com.