{{Short description|German-born American goldsmith and watchmaker}}{{Infobox person | name = Christopher Bechtler | birth_date = {{Birth date|1782|11|29}} | birth_place = Pforzheim, Margraviate of Baden, Holy Roman Empire | death_date = {{Death year and age|1843|1782}} | death_place = Rutherfordton, North Carolina | occupation = Goldsmith and watchmaker }}
'''Christopher (alias Christian) Bechtler''' (November 29, 1782–1843) was a German-born American goldsmith and watchmaker. He produced defined gold dollars known as Bechtler Dollars, in the early 1830s and by 1840, before the US government itself started to produce gold dollars in 1849.<ref name="coincommunityLH">[http://www.coincommunity.com/coin_histories/dollar_1849_gold_liberty_head_type1.asp Coin Community: Gold Dollar Liberty Head Type 1 History]. Retrieved September 9, 2006.</ref> The site of his mint is designated the Bechtler Mint Site Historic Park in North Carolina.<ref>[http://www.rutherfordtourism.com/properties/bechtler-mint-site-historic-park Rutherford County Tourism Development Authority]</ref>
== Life ==
Bechtler was born in Pforzheim, Margraviate of Baden on November 29, 1782.<ref name=":0" /> In 1767 Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden, allowed watch manufacturing in Pforzheim and started a technical school. The latter gave ground to further educational institutions and is now the Goldschmiedeschule mit Uhrmacherschule Pforzheim (Jewelers and Watchmakers School of Pforzheim); Bechtler was trained there. Around 1820, Bechtler spotted small gold traces in Stubensand, an early household abrasive. In 1823, he requested a mining concession and tried placer mining for gold in the Late Triassic Stubensandstein around neighboring Sternenfels where the Stubensand was produced. The amount of gold found was not satisfactory, but Bechtler asked for a Ducal Badensian Patent for his gold washing machine in 1819.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kraichgau-stromberg.com/kst/de/html/Persoenlichkeiten.php?ABC=B |title=Goldrush in Sternenfels 1818 |access-date=2008-07-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211094331/http://www.kraichgau-stromberg.com/kst/de/html/Persoenlichkeiten.php?ABC=B |archive-date=2012-02-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
In 1829, Bechtler, his sons Augustus and Charles, and a nephew immigrated to the United States.<ref name=":0">Stevenson, William. [http://www.immigrantentrepreneurship.org/entry.php?rec=15 "Christopher Bechtler."] In ''Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present'', vol. 1, edited by Marianne S. Wokeck. German Historical Institute. Last modified December 18, 2015.</ref> In 1830 he opened a watchmaker store in Philadelphia, the site of the first United States Mint. Drawn by one of the first gold rushes in the United States, Bechtler moved to North Carolina in 1830 and established a private mint.<ref name=":0" />
Bechtler died in Rutherfordton, North Carolina.
Bechtler and his successors' private mint in Rutherford County, North Carolina, was run from 1831 through the 1850s and produced more than a million gold coins in the period between 1831 and 1841. Bechtler's precision and the reliable gold content of his coins allowed him to prevail against other producers and to obtain a large fortune.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/12/style/coins-an-honest-man-and-his-gold-dollar.html COINS; An Honest Man And His Gold Dollar, By JED STEVENSON, NYT 12.09.93]</ref>
== Coinage ==
Bechtler's mint produced coins in three denominations: $1, $2.50, and $5, and the coins were struck in three Fineness: 20 carats, 21 carats, and 22 carats. At the time and within the limits of the existing technology, the coins were considered of honest weight.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Davis |first=Anita Price |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X5YbXpHjpucC&q=griffith&pg=PA12 |title=Legendary Locals of Rutherford County |date=2013 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-1-4671-0064-9 |pages=14 |language=en}}</ref>
== Bechtler's coins today == Because of the Coinage Act of June 28, 1834, which increased the value of gold by more than 6%, Bechtler's coins today are quite scarce and consequently, command high prices when offered for sale.<ref>[http://www.pcgs.com/Prices/PriceGuideDetail.aspx?MS=1&PR=1&SP=1&c=1682&title=Bechtler+%28N.+Carolina%2fGeorgia%29 PCGS Coinfacts Listing of Betchler Gold Coins and Approximate Retail Price by PCGS Grade]</ref> The North Carolina National Bank of Charlotte has a collection that can be viewed today.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://goldfever.unctv.org/ "Gold Fever and the Bechtler Mint," UNC-TV]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bechtler, Christopher}} Category:1782 births Category:1843 deaths Category:Emigrants from the Grand Duchy of Baden Category:American goldsmiths Category:People from Pforzheim Category:People from the Margraviate of Baden Category:People from Rutherfordton, North Carolina Category:German watchmakers (people) Category:American watchmakers (people) Category:German emigrants to the United States