2011 Clark Gruber Sesquicentennial "Pioneer" GOLD, 1 troy oz 999, Satin Finish

2011 is the 150th anniversary of the last Clark Gruber & Co coins. A popular slogan at the time of the Colorado Gold Rush 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 Clark Gruber 150th anniversary piece was struck in Colorado using gold refined in Colorado, on this former Denver Mint coin press. The 1861 Clark Gruber $20 coin design was based on the original US $20 Liberty gold coin design by James B. Longacre. Engraving and minting by Moonlight Mint and Daniel Carr. Gold refining and blank production by David Emslie.