New Gold Rush: Bidders dig deep for coins at Reno auction

RENO — Tiny pieces of California Gold Rush history fetched big bucks at a Reno auction of Western Americana.

Holabird-Kagin Americana reported the Jack Totheroh Collection of 200 gold coins privately issued in San Francisco in the 1850s sold for $865,000 — more than two times the estimate of $360,000.

The Reno-based company, which staged last week’s auction, said the Bergen-Istvan Collection of nearly 50 similar gold coins went for $252,000, beating the estimate of $162,000.

According to historians, the coins in 25-cent, 50-cent and dollar denominations were struck by jewelers from 1852 to 1857 when there was a shortage of small change in California.

While banks apparently didn’t accept them, they were used at some San Francisco businesses, historians say.

Both collections were split up and sold to different buyers.