Rare British Columbia coins in million-dollar deal

By Bret Evans

Some of Canada's greatest numismatic rarities have remained in Canadian hands. This happened when after a staggering five British Columbia (B.C.) patterns changed hands in a million-dollar deal.

At the end of August, Ian Laing of Gatewest Coin Ltd. in Winnipeg, Man., and Sandy Campbell of Proof Positive, from Baddeck, NS, jointly bought a silver $10 and $20 coin, a gold $10 and two gold $20 patterns from Sid and Alicia Belzberg. The Belzberg Canadian collection was noted for having one of everything, patterns included, but excluded the modern era.

The private treaty sale was brokered by Heritage Galleries, who conducted the Belzberg sale in New York City in 2003. With the exception of one of the $20 gold patterns, the B.C. coins were included in that sale, but did not make the reserve. All the patterns are dated 1862.

In mid-September, Tony Mah, of Vancouver Coin and Stamp Ltd., purchased the silver coins, and one of the gold $20 items by private treaty for about $500,000.

The sales of these was not announced until now.

The coins themselves have remarkable pedigrees, tracing back to some of the greatest collections in North American numismatics.

Prior to being in the Belzberg collection, the $10 silver pattern was in the Pittman and New Netherland Coin collection. The $20 silver pattern was in the Norweb, King Farouk and Brand collections. The $20 gold had been in the Pittman, Farouk, Brand, Ellis, and Murdoch Collections.

The remaining two coins are now jointly-owned by Campbell and Laing. Both were in the Belzberg auction. The $10 gold pattern previously belonged to Ron Green, Brand, Ellis, and Murdoch. The $20 gold pattern was in the collections of Paul Martin, Norweb, Brand, and several other owners, all the way to Capt. William Driscott Gossett, Treasurer of B.C. and head of the assay office and mint at New Westminster, B.C. in 1862.

The B.C. patterns have a unique place in Canadian history. In 1858 gold was discovered in B.C.'s Fraser Canyon. The result was an immediate boom economy which aggravated the shortage of circulating currency that was common to most colonies at that time.

An assay office opened in New Westminster in 1860, that only aggravated the issue. It created a demand to exchange gold for coins. As did continued booms such as Rock Creek, Caribou and the Columbia Valley. At this time B.C. and Vancouver Island were separate colonies, and New Westminster was the capital of B.C..

A temporary issue of paper notes proved a short-term solution. As had happened with other colonies in North America, James Douglas the governor of B.C. decided to issue local money. Given that gold was plentiful it must have seemed like a good idea. Similar issues in the U.S., such as the private gold coins of California, and gold beavers issued in 1849 by the Provisional government of Oregon had been popular at the time.

Francis George Claudet, assayer, was sent to San Francisco to pick up machinery and dies for $10 and $20 pieces, which were engraved by Albert Kuner. He had produced dies for many of the California Territorial gold issues.

However, the Mint never went into full production. Producing coinage was still a right of the home government and the British Royal Mint was jealous of any mint striking gold or silver coins without its express permission. Governor Douglas may have been nervous of stepping on the home government toes. Even so, he had silver patterns sent to England, probably for approval.

Gosset seemed very eager to start and did not wait for any further approval. He struck gold patterns, for Douglas to see, and made a few for customers who had brought in their own gold.

Douglas was outraged, and ordered that no further gold pieces be struck. Eventually Gosset struck a few patterns for display at the International Exhibition in London. Afterwards two were preserved for posterity and the rest ordered melted. Douglas ordered the Mint closed.

While they never saw circulation, the B.C. gold patterns were the first coins struck in what is now Canada, and the first gold coins struck for any part of Canada. Newfoundland gold coins were first issued in 1865 and Canadian-made sovereigns were not struck until the Ottawa Mint opened in 1908.

Today it is believed that four pairs of silver patterns and a single $10 pattern remain. It is believed that Kuner struck just five of each coin. Two of those sets are in museum collections.

Of the gold patterns, three $10 and five $20 are known. However two $10 and three $20 coins are in museum collections.

In other words, the Belzberg transaction involved every single B.C. pattern coin available to collectors.

For now, Laing, Campbell and Mah all agree that they intend to display their coins. The Laing and Campbell pair will be seen at this summer's CNA convention in Ottawa. The last time they were exhibited together was at the Vancouver CNA convention, five years ago.

December 11 to December 24, 2007 issue of Canadian Coin News