Underground Wealth

North Carolina is not generally known for its mining-related numismatic items, although the state has a long mining history. The first significant gold rush in the United States was in Cabarrus County in 1805. In the 1830s, Christopher Bechtler and his two sons, Augustus and Charles, moved to Rutherfordton, where they invested heavily in land in the area. In 1832 Bechtler started striking the gold “coins” that collectors highly value. 

Carolina Coal Company

At least one coal-mining company in the state used tokens. The Osborne Register Company (ORCO) of Cincinnati, Ohio, struck them for the Carolina Coal Company, and 1 cent through 1 dollar tokens were issued. The Edkins Catalogue of United States Coal Company Store Scrip lists them as NC 2507 A1 through A100. The company’s name appears on the obverse around the rim, with the denomination in the center. The tokens were struck with standard ORCO system scrip “stock” reverse dies in a copper-nickel composition, with the exception of the 5 denomination, which was struck in brass.

Established in September 1917, the company was founded “to acquire, occupy and develop coal lands,” and its first carload of coal was shipped two months later. In 1921 the firm discovered a rich vein at its mine in Chatham County, and it was announced that three miles of track were being built to connect with the railroad line. Production was expected to increase to several hundred tons a week, which would necessitate the hiring of many more miners.

Deadly Accident

In May 1925, the company made the news when a massive explosion at its mine at Coal Glen, a tiny community near Sanford, killed more than 50 miners. A month later, it was reported that mining would be resumed but that the company had gone into receivership “to protect the families of the miners who were killed in the explosion.” The company limped along until August 1930, when it went bankrupt.

The Carolina Coal Company was not a large operation, and the mintage of its tokens was undoubtedly very small. Although the two smallest denominations are occasionally offered for sale, they all are rare. I doubt that more than three or four of the highest two denominations are in collectors’ hands today. Typically, when a company stopped using tokens, it destroyed all those on hand. In some cases, it dumped them down a mine shaft to eliminate the possibility that they would fall into the hands of someone who might try to present them for redemption. Unfortunately, there’s no way of knowing the fate of the Carolina Coal Company’s tokens.

North Carolina Talc & Mining Company

Located in the southwestern corner of the state in Swain County, the town of Hewitt was named for Frank R. Hewitt, the owner of a talc mine on the Nantahala River that was established in 1878. The Nantahala Talc and Marble Works was owned by the firm of Rickard and Hewitt, which was headquartered in New York City. The January 14, 1888, issue of the Asheville Citizen-Times newspaper reported that Hewitt’s company 

“own[s] and work[s] magnificent and seemingly inexhaustible beds of marble and talc. They are quarrying splendid blue, pink, green, and variegated marble, and are shipping and have a demand for all, in the New York and other northern markets. They are also grinding and cutting talc, and cannot supply the demand. They ship this to all the central points in the United States. They are working about forty hands now, but will soon have to increase this force.”

At the 1895 Cotton States and International Exposition held in Atlanta, Georgia, Rickard and Hewitt placed an exhibit of corundum and emery. During that time business was evidently still good. A newspaper article noted that the company was running its talc mills “with much success.” However, by July 1897, the firm was in receivership. But, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Hewitt was soon back in business.

In August 1898 the North Carolina Talc & Mining Company was incorporated by Francis M. Hewitt, Frank R. Hewitt, P.A. Marquardt, and Duff Merrick. The company’s stated purpose was 

“mining, grinding, and manufacturing talc for market, and of buying, selling and dealing in the same; of quarrying marble and other stones and of sawing, polishing and otherwise preparing the same for market in all forms and for all purposes for which the same are or may be used, and of buying, selling and dealing in all other minerals; and of buying, selling and dealing in mines and mineral properties of all kinds; and for the purposes aforesaid, the said corporation shall have the right and power of acquiring, owning and holding lands, in fee or by less estate, to the extent allowed by the laws of North Carolina; and also the right and power of sinking mines and shafts, and of erecting, equipping and operating mills, workshops, factories and other buildings.”

A newspaper article noted
that the company was running its talc mills
“with much success.”

Change in Ownership

Ownership of the company changed around 1918. Sometime after that, the firm changed its name to Nantahala Talc & Limestone Company. It is still in business under that name. However, in a 1998 newspaper interview, Jack Herbert, who was president of the company at the time, stated that the company “once had an extensive underground talc mine in the area, but that mine was sealed and filled with stone in the 1970s.”

Illustrated above is one of the tokens issued by the North Carolina Talc & Mining Company. Similar tokens with denominations of 10 cents, 25, and 50 cents, all struck in brass, also exist, and I assume a 5 was also used, although I haven’t seen one. This isn’t surprising; the tokens are all quite rare.  

I welcome readers’ comments. Write to me at P.O. Box 2866, La Plata, MD 20646. If a written reply is desired, please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope. 

A version of this article appears in the November 2024 issue of The Numismatist (money.org).