1849The Philadelphia Mint Strikes Gold Author:Michael Moran, Jeff Garrett Award-winning researcher Michael Moran (author of Striking Change: The Great Artistic Collaboration of Theodore Roosevelt and Augustus Saint-Gaudens), joined by gold-coin specialist Jeff Garrett, tells the story of the 1848 discovery of gold in California and its far-ranging repercussions for America. The birth of the 1848 CAL. quarter eagle and... more » the 1849 double eagle have never been explored in such detail. "The arrival of Colonel Mason's oyster can full of gold in Washington would change everything in the United States," Moran writes. "It would fuel a rapid industrialization across the northern states with a supporting rail system. It would leave few institutions untouched, least of all the United State Mint at Philadelphia. The Mint would be shaken to its very foundation and only just barley survive. However, to understand the events that would unfold at the Mint, the story must begin almost at its establishment in 1792..." With hundreds of full-color images, some not seen in print for generations, an engaging narrative that sheds new light and draws fresh new conclusions, and an inventory of the Smithsonian's gold holdings, this book is a treasure for the coin collector, the gold investor, and everyone interested in the dramatic history of the United States.« less