Beaver Coins

100 Beaver Coins, also known in Pioneer days as Beaver Money, were gold coins for a short time minted by the Provisional Government of the Oregon Territory in the not on time 1840's. The coins were obtainable in $5 and $10 dollar denominations. Their name comes from the important Beaver depicted on the face of the coins. Today these coins are quite rare and precious.

The influx of settlers into the Oregon Country produced a deficiency of circulating currency. The inhabitants at the time resorted to using gold specks or minting their own gold coins for use in trading. Many settlers began lobbying the territory's new government to correct this condition.

The Provisional Territorial Legislature at Champoeg then gave the appreciation for the Oregon Exchange Company to mint currency. Although the Oregon Exchange Company was more often than not a personal organization, the territorial government set the coin's values, authorized a mint, and chosen the officers to the mint. The mint was situated in Oregon City, Oregon.

After Oregon's administrator U.S. territory rank, the Oregon Exchange Company became an completely personal enterprise ongoing its operations until Governor Joseph Lane ruled the operation illegal.