PCGS The Standard for the Rare Coin Industry

American Coinage During The Reign Of Norton I of California: The Only Emperor of the United States

1999 Second Runner-Up PCGS Essay Contest

"At the request and desire of a large majority of the citizens of the United States, I, Joshua Norton of San Francisco, California, declare and proclaim myself Emperor of these United States." (San Francisco Bulletin, Sept. 17, 1859.)

Hordes of adventurers poured into the valleys of California singing, "0 Susannah!" and shouting "Gold!, Gold!, Gold!" after James Marshall, a little-known mechanic from New Jersey discovered gold at a sawmill in the Sacramento River Valley. The word "gold" stirred exciting thoughts of untold wealth in the minds of all who heard of it. The word spread like wildfire, which lead our notorious character, Joshua Abraham Norton, into the mix.

In order to understand Emperor Norton fully, we must begin with his birth. Joshua Abraham Norton was born in London, England, in 1818, to John and Sarah Norton. In 1820, while only two years old, his parents and his brother, Lewis, left with him to settle at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. His father established a farm at Grahamstown and built a log cabin to raise his boys in.

Meanwhile, back in the United States, James Madison took the presidential oath on March 4, 1809, as the awesome conflict in Europe was roaring to a climax. After bitter discussion in the House of Representatives and the Senate, an agreement was reached, and a declaration of war was engineering in June of 1812. The battles that soon took place on the open Pacific came to be known as the War of 1812.

By 1838, Joshua Norton was 20 years old and working for his father in a general merchandise store at Cape Town. Within a short time he decided to go into business for himself at Algoa Bay. This enterprise was short-lived, however, failing in 1844. If it did not seem like enough problems, his father died in 1848, leaving his business at Cape Town in bankruptcy. Joshua, left with two insolvent firms on his hands, wandered for some months, not knowing which way to turn.

Then it came. It was not a million dollar check, but something much more valuable: a newspaper. On it was the accounts of the discovery of gold in California. It was a chance of a lifetime to escape economic poverty. He made up his mind quickly and left on the Franzeska, a passenger boat heading to San Francisco. The trip took a grueling one hundred and one days via Rio de Janeiro and landed on Friday, November 23, 1849, amidst hundreds of other abandoned ships.

During the same time, 7,000 other prospectors rushed to California to tap into the Mother Lode, and they quickly came to be known as "Forty-Niners." The Gold Rush caused California's population to explode, soaring from a mere 15,000 at the beginning of 1849, to nearly 300,000 by 1856. The numbers seem small by today's standards, but they were large in relation to the total U.S. population of 22 million in 1849.

The gold fields would eventually yield $450 million worth of the yellow metal. Yet the Gold Rush would turn out to be the ruin of thousands of men, many of whom took to liquor and gambling, or succumbed to the diseases that swept through the grimy camps. Although Joshua Norton was a "49er," he did not wade through the rivers looking for gold. His gold was in another form: the miners themselves.

He had noticed the high prices at which food and merchandise were sold, and the difficulty involved in procuring them. These observations led him to his important decision - to set himself up as a commission merchant. By buying and selling these hard-to-get commodities at the right time, he realized the high commission potential that could be realized. Joshua quickly rented a small office at 242 Montgomery Street, in a busy block of San Francisco. He had brought along enough money to cover the initial expenses of this venture.

Joshua Norton may have had enough cash on hand, but the majority of Californians did not. As gold began to pour down from the hills, assaying, melting and refining it became necessary. Except for several private companies, there were no facilities for this purpose. There was also a money problem, for the nearest United States branch mint was at New Orleans. In order to turn the gold nuggets into coins, minting facilities were required - and private companies had to fill the bill by producing territorial gold issues.

The first gold from California arrived at the mint on January 8, 1849, and quickly turned into coinage - 1,389 quarter eagles, or $2.50 gold pieces, all dated 1848 but with a distinctive "CAL" punched onto the reverse side above the eagle's head. In a way, this was the first circulating U.S. commemorative coinage.

Within a year Joshua formed a partnership with another merchant, Peter Robertson, under the name of "Joshua Norton and Company," with references in London, Rio de Janeiro and Boston. The new partnership gained strength as they began speculating in various commodities in large scale amounts. Coal was handled by the ton, brick by the thousand and flour by the hundreds of sacks. These goods were bought as cheaply as possible, and then sold for all the market could bring.

These "killing profits" continued to roll in until May 3 or 4, 1851, when 18 San Francisco city blocks went up in smoke. After the fire had settled, the entire business district and almost 200 homes were destroyed. Twenty lives were lost and $72 million in damages were sustained. Joshua's business was among those burned to the ground. He and his partner quickly rented a post office box and began buying in earnest, while their newer and better offices were being erected.

By the time their new offices were built, the partnership was terminated. Joshua Norton again became sole owner. Now on his own, Joshua embarked on a new phase of commission buying. This consisted of purchasing cargoes from consignees long before they were due in port. The practice gave him an even greater control over a commodity, but likewise increased his market risk. This new phase of commission buying was the turning point in Joshua's career, for certain events transpired in that year which were to lead to his downfall.

The abundance of Chinese workers in California led rice to be the single largest food to be consumed. During the summer and fall of 1852, the price of rice had risen to astronomical heights. Joshua's interest in the commodity mounted as he watched the market reports rise. Another novel idea was building in his mind. If he could buy up all the available rice until a monopoly on it was reached, then hold it until the price had risen, he could sell all of it at high prices and become a millionaire overnight.

Without rationally thinking, he again took up another partner and approached several wealthy businessmen. They decided to "combine" their money so that they would have the proper funds to purchase the required amounts of rice in order to corner the market. On December 22, 1852, the vessel "Glyde" arrived from South America with 200,000 pounds of rice on board. The owner of the cargo ship "Ruiz", consigned with the businessmen to buy the whole shipment at 12-1/2 cents a pound. The contract was signed only by "J. Norton and Co.", which made it not binding on any of the other associated speculators. By the time the ink dried, Joshua was stuck with a payment of $2,500,000 for the rice.

Everything seemed in order, and the businessmen felt assured of financial success, until it happened. Within a week, several more ships came in to port carrying full loads of rice. Never had so much rice arrived in such a short period of time. The rice market was broken as the price dropped below three cents a pound. Joshua's manipulations were a complete and dismal failure, as several settlements were brought before him in court. Every time he lost, his pocketbooks drained further. In 1853, on the brink of despair, he filed his petition for bankruptcy. All of his worldly possessions were sold by the Sheriff, as Norton walked away with his head down. The stage was now set for a new ruler to control the United States.

Joshua Norton was not the only American to feel a monetary crisis. During the same year, the nation was in the grip of a coinage crisis like it had never experienced before. Consumers and merchants could not find any silver coins to use in transactions. The cause of this was the California Gold Rush, which had brought down the price of gold relative to silver. Thus, one could melt $1 worth of silver coins and get $1.06 in silver bullion, which could be sold for gold, which then was traded for silver ... It became an "endless chain" of wealth for silver coin hoarders.

To combat the problem a coinage act was created, known as the Coinage Act of Feb. 21, 1853. It called for proportioning the weights of the half dime, dime, quarter and half dollar so that they would add up to a dollar of silver being minted at the time. There was only one problem: The striking of coins had already begun and there had to be a way to differentiate the lighter coins from the originals. Mint Director George N. Eckert ordered his Chief Engraver to place tiny arrows beside the dates on the observe of the new, lightweight coins. The coin crisis had been resolved while the Philadelphia Mint became producing more than 13 million half dimes with arrows for the coin-starved public.

Little is known of Joshua's activities in the first few years after bankruptcy. What is known is that he lost more than money: The lawsuits, court trials and business failures played upon his mind. His former complete mental stability had ebbed away. With feelings of unfair loss and unjust treatment, he began the assumption of a new character - that of an unquestioned, privileged personage. Such a person was Emperor Norton I.

The first real hard evidence of this transformation appeared in the San Francisco Bulletin on September 17, 1859, and stated: "At the request and desire of a large majority of the citizens of the United States, I, Joshua Norton of San Francisco, California, declare and proclaim myself Emperor of these United States . . . ." A second newspaper pronouncement appeared in the October 12, 1859, issue of the Bulletin, denouncing certain state governors and courts. Others followed at infrequent intervals, which dealt with existing evils as Joshua now saw them.

It would not be fitting of any king, queen, or emperor to don civilian clothes and wander the streets, because of their high office. Every noble throughout history has had their own uniform decked out with gold and lace. Joshua knew this and donned his own uniform for the first time on March 18, 1860. It consisted of his headpiece, which was a general's cap, bound with red lace; his coat that of an army officer; his pants and boots those of a navy man -- all gifts of outmoded vintage. Later, in time, he received newer uniforms through the generosity of the local army post. Any passerby would have assumed Joshua Norton to be a resurrected military general. The shining buttons and the feathered cap certainly made Joshua a sight to see.

By the early 1870's, Joshua was nearing his late sixties and his body began to catch up with his age. Most of his days were spent walking, with rests in between becoming more frequent and longer. Most of his meals were eaten in public restaurants close to his single room at the Eureka Lodging House, a cheap hotel that he called home. By sundown the day of activity was over as he paid his rent every night before retiring.

Meanwhile, throughout the United States, a brand new branch of the U.S. Mint opened in Carson City, Nevada. The cornerstone for the new mint was laid on July 8, 1866, at ceremonies conducted by the Grand Masonic Lodge of Nevada. The sandstone building was erected rather quickly, although it took all of 1868 and most of 1869 to outfit and equip the facility. The Carson City Mint was never much of a producer, although they coined many denominations, including dimes, quarters, halves and even gold coins. Trying as hard as it might, the Treasury Department opened and closed it unpredictably during the late 1800's, until all operations officially ended in 1933.

Although Americans used United States currency, Joshua Norton devised his own form of legal tender. The currency of favor: Norton Scrip. Officially called "Bonds of the Empire," the scrip was printed by Cuddy and Hughes and the Charles A. Murdock and Co. The 50 cent currency denominations were predominantly printed with his portrait on the front. Each piece was personally hand signed, dated and serial numbered before being passed out. While not every store accepted the Imperial Scrip, some did. Norton's needs were simple, and he mainly used the Scrip at eating houses. The average use was one per day, although sometimes as much as two. As Joshua's health slowed, so did his spending.

All people eventually die, and unfortunately, Joshua's time was up on January 8, 1880, while walking the streets. In his pockets were found several coins -- three dollars in silver, a $2-1/2 gold piece, a franc piece of 1828, a certificate for 98,200 shares of stock in a worthless mine, and several bonds of the "Empire." There is no better way to sum up his passing than the writings of the San Francisco Alta, "His eccentricities had become a part of the city's history; they had made him world famous."

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