Lost Dutchman Coin, Gunsmoke television episode "Treasure of John Walking Fox" (1966)

The episode of the American television program "Gunsmoke" shows a large octagonal pioneer gold coin.

I bought a "Lost Dutchman Mine" coin (technically a medal or exonumia) for $15 at a
California coin show in October 2013.

It was a large octagonal coin which imitated a California pioneer $50 gold coin or "slug".
I bought it because I had read the story of the Lost Dutchman Mine and I liked the design
with a miner panning for gold on the obverse and a coiled rattlesnake on the reverse.


The Lost Dutchman Mine octagonal coin

Obverse: Miner with pan / LOST DUTCHMAN / 1860
Reverse: Rattlesnake / LOST DUTCHMAN MINES / FIFTY DOLLARS
Metal: Brass, Size: 38mm, Octagonal, Weight: 34.38gm

After I paid for the coin, the seller asked me if I wanted to hear the story behind it.
I said that I would and he told me that 500 of these were produced after one was used in a
1966 episode of the television show Gunsmoke which starred Leonard Nimoy as an Indian.

After watching a DVD of the episode, I discovered that my Lost Dutchman Mine coin does not
match the prop coin shown in the episode, the episode coin is apparently copied from a
California Gold Discovery Centennial medal made in 1948.

At home, I looked the coin up on the Internet and found one similar story, which claimed that
the medals were made for "Gunsmoke" fans or octagonal collectors.

The "Lost Dutchman Mine" is not mentioned in the episode, it is a famous "lost mine"
supposed located in the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix, Arizona.

"Gunsmoke" was an American television "Western" program which ran from 1955 to 1975.
It started when William Boyd closed his "Hopalong Cassidy" television program and a use
was needed for the sets and jobs for the employees.

The regular characters are Matt Dillon, the Marshall or Sheriff of the town of Dodge City, Kansas.
Miss Kitty runs a saloon, Festus is Matt's deputy, and Doc Adams is the town doctor.
This episode was a story of revenge with an Indian and some greedy cowboys and townspeople.
The appearance of a new gravestone sets the episode in 1874.

The show starred James Arness as Matt Dillon, Amanda Blake as Kitty, Ken Curtis as Festus,
and Milburn Stone as Doc Adams.

This episode starred Leonard Nimoy as John Walking Fox, Richard Webb as Aaron Tigue,
Jim Davis as Gainer, and Lloyd Gough as Jacob Beamus.
The director was Marc Daniels and the writers were Leo Bagby and Clyde Ware.

I posted more about the coin, the show, and the episode on my website under "Coins on Television".


John Walking Fox (Leonard Nimoy)

This was Leonard Nimoy's last guest television appearance before his long run as "Mr. Spock" on "Star Trek".

Only the obverse of the coin prop is shown during the episode.
The reverse appears to be blank.


Closeup of the coin prop used in the episode

The coin has a figure of a miner '49er and the legend:
THE DAYS OF OLD / THE DAYS OF GOLD / THE DAYS OF FORTY NINE / CALIFORNIA

The film prop coin is not like the Lost Dutchman Mine medal, it appears to be based on a
California Gold Discovery Centennial medal made in 1948.

One such medal sold at the Goldberg Coins and Collectibles 2008 Auction for $216.
(So-Called Dollars Auction 47 Lot 4346, May 25-27, 2008)
http://images.goldbergauctions.com/php/lot_auc.php?site=1&sale=47&lot=4346&lang=1

The medal legend "the days of old, the days of gold" is from an old song of the California Gold Rush.

In the "Gunsmoke" episode, Marshall Dillon asks John Walking Fox where he got the two coins he spent.

John replies:
"Suppose I were to say I found them on the prairie, just the two of them".
"Or that they were given to me by an elder of the tribe, as talismans to ward off evil".

Who made the item I bought?

 

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Ask the seller where he found the information on the 500 quantity. To know how many were made would require knowing who made them. That information is only available from original production records.

 

Now to use it as your trade token, if you can get the rights.

 

Interesting indeed.

 

Wow!! Great research!

Just to add... Marshall Dillon's first deputy was Dennis Weaver who played "McCloud" on the CBS Mysteries. On "Gunsmoke" Weaver played "Chester" who walked with a limp from a right knee that would not bend. Having seen the show as a child, I was over 30 before someone explained the pun in "Miss Kitty" to me, modeled, I believe on the character of "Katy Jurado" played by Helen Ramirez in High Noon. Leonard Nimoy... acting as a career... Glad that he finally made it to true Hollywood immortality as Spock.