Term for Gold?

[dreameffects]

What did people in the old west call gold nuggets? I have seen a few references to slugs or hard money. Were there any other terms they used?

Thank you

[St. George]

'Hard Money' was the reference to coinage - as opposed to paper.

'Scrip' was military currency used as needed, but redeemable for 'hard money' - it was easier to carry.

'Shinplaster' was the term for paper bills - because of their relatively large size.

'Dust' was an interchangeable delineator for both nuggets and dust.

Commerce of that time used all of them interchangeably, but 'paper' wasn't as trusted ad 'hard money' - too many paper bills were fake.

Scouts Out!

[dreameffects]

'Hard Money' was the reference to coinage - as opposed to paper.

'Scrip' was military currency used as needed, but redeemable for 'hard money' - it was easier to carry.

'Shinplaster' was the term for paper bills - because of their relatively large size.

'Dust' was an interchangeable delineator for both nuggets and dust.

Commerce of that time used all of them interchangeably, but 'paper' wasn't as trusted ad 'hard money' - too many paper bills were fake.

Scouts Out!

Perfect! Thank you so much! So if a miner had gold would he trade it to the bank? Or would he keep the gold because he didn't trust paper money?

[St. George]

He'd sell it - to the bank, they assayer, the bartender - anyone with a set of scales and money.

Scouts Out!

[dreameffects]

He'd sell it - to the bank, they assayer, the bartender - anyone with a set of scales and money.

Scouts Out!

Thank you again! You've been very helpful 

[Forty Rod]

Okay, Dream, just how big is your strike.   

Could be you just announced lunch for everybody in the county.      

[Coffinmaker]

Forty - I'm IN   

[Tsalagidave]

Perfect! Thank you so much! So if a miner had gold would he trade it to the bank? Or would he keep the gold because he didn't trust paper money?

Assay offices were established to grade the quality of your gold and make it into manageable coinage for a tolerable percentage of what you turned in to be minted.  Many businesses would gladly take nuggets and dust in payment but the amount's value could arbitrarily change from establishment to establishment.  For this reason, it was just more manageable and convenient to carry coin from a reputable assayer who coined in accordance with present value. Private assay offices generated specie (term for silver or gold coinage) in denominations from .25-.50 cents ("2-4 bit" fractional) to $50 "Slugs". Aside from the gold dollar, there were also "Quarter Eagles" ($2.50), "Half Eagles" ($5.00), "Eagles" (10.00) and "Double Eagles" ($20).  

Just previous to 1853, the Philadelphia mint had gold determined at about 4 1/3 cents per grain.  That meant that an ounce of pure gold was valued at about $18.84. With merchants, gold dust had a purchasing power of about $8-10 per ounce. Typical assay offices paid higher for "quicksilver" gold dust at $14.50-14.75 per ounce. Gold dust that was already separated sold for $15.50 per ounce and flake went for $15.75. (Now it makes sense why folks preferred assay offices to pinching dust from a poke don't it?)

Paper money was prohibited to be circulated by law under the California Constitution, adopted in Nov. 1849.

To answer the original questions, it was called "dust", "flake", "color", "nuggets / lumps" or "seeing the elephant".

An interesting note is that the combined findings of the various California gold booms in addition to the gold rushes in British Colombia, and Victoria, Australia caused the worldwide gold prices to drop in 1853.  This was good news for the value of silver which shot up.  Old US silver coinage was now worth more than its face value and was immediately hoarded, sending US mints on a mad dash to mint reduced silver quality coins. Meanwhile, "California" gold coins decreased in value by about 5%.


-Dave