GOLD IN NORTH CAROLINA!!

      GOLD has been an important part of North Carolina's history since 1799, the date of the first authenticated discovery of gold in the United States.  North Carolina was the nation's only gold-producing state from 1803 until 1828, and continued as a leading producer until 1848 when gold was discovered in California.
         By about 1830, the leading mines in North Carolina were hard-rock mines rather than surface placer operations.   Output probably peaked in the early 1830s and again in the late 1840s. The most famous mines in the South were at Gold Hill, where one shaft eventually reached a depth of 800 feet.    The federal government built a branch mint at Charlotte which coined southern gold from 1838 until the start of the Civil War in 1861.

        Production continued sporadically in the late 1800s and early 1900s, but since that time gold output has been minor. The last significant production was from 1954 to 1963 as a byproduct of copper mining in the Blue Ridge.
        In response to rising gold prices in the mid-1970s, interest was renewed in North Carolina gold. Prices rose to a high of $850 per ounce in 1980, but eventually became stable at around $350 to $400 per ounce from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. These higher gold prices and new methods of extracting gold from low-grade ores encouraged exploration for new deposits.  Although no new mines were opened in North Carolina, four gold mines were operated in South Carolina.  In the late 1990s, gold prices fell to below $300 per ounce and gold activity once again decreased.
        Recreational gold panning remains a popular past time in North Carolina. It is difficult to find large amounts of gold, but the possibility of finding even a little "color" in a gold pan is hard to resist.