2009 Colorado Gold Rush Sesquicentennial "Pioneer "GOLD, 1 troy oz 999, Proof-Like

2009 is the 150th anniversary of the Colorado Gold Rush. A popular slogan at the time was "Pike's Peak or Bust". In 1860-1861, Denver-based Clark Gruber & Co produced high-quality gold coins that circulated alongside regular US coinage. A few years later the US government bought out the private Clark Gruber mint and eventually converted the operation into the official US Denver Mint in 1906.

In an ironic twist, in 2001 the US Mint sold a surplus coin press which became the core asset of the private Moonlight Mint (which obtained the coin press in 2007 and restored it in 2008). This Colorado Gold Rush 150th anniversary piece was struck in Colorado using gold refined in Colorado, on this former Denver Mint coin press. "Carr Emslie & Co" is a tribute to the original Clark Gruber & Co "pioneer" gold coins. Design, engraving, and minting by Moonlight Mint and Daniel Carr. Gold refining and blank production by David Emslie.