California Coiners and Assayers by Dan Owens with Introduction and Appreciation by Q. David Bowers

5.75" x 8.75". ISBN:0-943161-85-1. 448 pp, hard cover,  history of assaying and coinage in California in general and by company, companies include Aaron, Francis W. H., Baldwin & Company, Bell, Gerrit, (Gerritt), Broderick, F.W. Blake, Bowie, Joseph H., Cincinnati Mining& Trading Company, Dunbar & Company, Harris, Marchand & Company, Justh & Hunter, Knight & Company, Kohler, Frederick D., Meyer & Company, Kuh, Leopold, Moffat & Company, Moran & Clark, Pacific Company, San Francisco Mint. This book is out of print.

Description: 

For the first time ever in a single authoritative volume, the story is told of coiners and assayers who created coins and ingots during some of the most pivital years in American history - the famous Gold Rush era. While much of California's Gold Rush era has been chronicled, Owens is one of the few to focus on the assayers, bankers and others who played an important role during this period. The study begins by covering the Californian Gold Rush and continues all the way to the end of its private gold coinage era. Through extensive research and documentation, Owens has created a groundbreaking work for the field of numismatics. This 448-page hardbound illustrated encyclopedic-style volume was compiled over a period of years by author, primarily from newspaper accounts, directories, shipping lists, and many other archives, and extracts historic and human interest aspects of this exciting time in American commerce. Stretching in alphabetic arrangement from assayers Aaron to Weigand, plus information about the characteristics of gold metal, the steamship trade, fires, gambling houses, the San Francisco Mint, and the makers of the wonderful gold bars recovered from the wreck of the S.S. Central America, this fascinating illustrated volume encompasses the time period 1848 to 1863. Published cooperatively by Bowers and Merena Galleries and Stack's (A Collectors Universe Company 2000). Issued at: $50.00 ISBN 0943161851.

The importance of the 448-page book is noted in the Introduction by Q. David Bowers: 

"Every so often in numismatics a work is published that breaks new ground. After much unceasing, unstinting effort involving travel, correspondence, and other communications, and delving into long-forgotten directories and archives, Dan Owens has created a master work which will be used in the future as a source and standard reference. Now, for the first time in numismatic and western history, in one encyclopedic dictionary is told the story of coiners, assayers, and others who created gold in the form of coins and ingots, for use in commerce during one of the most pivotal eras of American history."