Did You Know On November 15, 1806, Zebulon Pike First Saw “Pike’s Peak”?

On November 15, 1806, Zebulon Pike recorded his first, distant sight of the mountain that would come to bear his name. The Pike Expedition, named for its leader, was a military party charged with exploring and mapping the western and southern areas of the Louisiana Purchase, much as the Lewis and Clark Expedition had explored its northern regions from 1804 through 1806.

Leaving Missouri on July 15, the expedition moved west across the modern-day states of Missouri and Kansas, up to Nebraska and then south to the Arkansas River. The group split up with some members heading downstream on the Arkansas, while Pike and the rest traveled upstream into modern-day Colorado. On November 15 Pike recorded first seeing the more than 14,000 foot peak, however his attempt to climb it in the next few days was unsuccessful; the first successful European ascent would not take place until summer 1820.

Numismatically, Pikes Peak is associated with the 1860 Clark, Gruber & Co. $10 and $20 “Mountain” coins. These pieces bear a distinctive if completely fanciful representation of Pike’s Peak (which in no way resembles the actual mountain), as well as the legend PIKE’S PEAK GOLD, DENVER below the base of the mountain, and beneath that the value TEN D. or TWENTY D. The $10 pieces were the first coins to be produced at the private Clark, Gruber & Co. mint in Denver, an occasion that was recorded by the Rocky Mountain News on July 25, 1860. The issues proved successful and by October of the same year, some $120,000 worth had been struck. While subsequent 1861 Clark, Gruber tens and twenties bear designs that closely resemble contemporary U.S. Mint coins, the Mountain design has become synonymous with Colorado territorial coinage of all types.

Stack’s Bowers Galleries is pleased to feature an example of the Clark, Gruber & Co. Pikes Peak Gold “Mountain Ten” in lot 3290 of the November 2024 Rarities Night session. To view all lots in the November Showcase auction visit StacksBowers.com.