Anybody have any photographs of Christopher Bechtler-Pioneer who minted gold coins I am doing some research for my local coin club and I'm trying to find photographs of Christopher Bechtler, one of the first persons to mint gold coins in the US. Anybody ever seen any?
A good topic for a coin club presentation, but the three chances of finding a photograph of Bechtler the Elder are slim, fat and none. What are the chances that one of the people experimenting with this new technique happened to use Bechtler as a subject in the last few years of his life?
I kept looking last night and found this one at link I am guessing that this will be the only photo available
I would wonder if that photo was of Christopher Sr, or Christopher Jr? Since photography was so rare in the last year ot two of Christopher Sr's life, it would seem to me that this is more likely that of Jr.
Could not get the link to Bechtler's photo to open. Could you let me know what it is? email edited out for personal protection, use pm
If anybody anywhere has a photo of Bechtler, it is likely to be the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which maintains: "...The Herman Bernard Collection of Bechtler coins...placed on permanent display in the Gallery in 1991 to complement other exhibits relating to the history of North Carolina’s gold rush."