ALASKA GOLD TOKENS: A TALE OF TWO CREEKS

EUREKA CREEK

Eureka Creek is in the Hot Springs Mining District. Gold was first discovered there in 1898. The reported fineness of the gold ranges from .774 to .836. I purchased 1.00 troy ounce, and suffered a 12.3% melt loss. Specific gravity indicates a fineness of 75.35% for this gold.

It took me four tries to get an acceptable Eureka Creek die. I don’t use the tiny letter punches very often, and have a difficult time getting them lined up. I figured this was as good as it was going to get.

From the .877 ounces left, I made 16 tokens. These are available for $85, including a silver die trial. The silver die trial is available for $5. Prices are postpaid.

LINDA CREEK

Linda Creek is in the Koyukuk Mining District. It has been in production since 1901. The reported fineness is .914. Specific gravity indicates a fineness of .9129.

When you say “Koyukuk gold” or “Wiseman gold” to an Alaskan miner, he immediately thinks of the high purity, with assays as high as .973, and consistently above .900.

I purchased 1.002 troy ounces. After the first melt, the weight was .973 oz., a melt loss of only 2.9%. From this gold, I made 18 tokens. Because I have another ounce of gold from the Koyukuk, I made a special reverse die to use on these two lots.

These are available for $90, including (2) silver die trials. The silver die trials are available for $10 for the pair. Prices are postpaid.

The “tale” is in the difference between the two sources of gold. One had a low purity with a high burn off, while the other had a high purity and a low burn off. One was dirty (small particles of dirt) while the other was clean.

When making the Eureka Creek token, the thickness of the planchet was about .54mm. Since the Linda Creek gold is so much finer, the planchet only needed to be .49mm to yield 1DWT.

WISEMAN GOLD William Ho, the buyer for General Refining Corp. called me and said “Dick, you said you wanted some Wiseman gold?” I said, of course, and walked over to his office. (ed. note - Wiseman is the “village,” while Koyukuk is the mining district).

I looked at the gold and thought, “Really, Wiseman?” But I trust William, and purchased an ounce of some of the ugliest placer gold I have seen. It was dark and rocky.

I melted it and had only a 6.8% melt loss, much better than I was expecting. The ingot had a nice gold color, so I knew it would be good. Specific gravity indicates a fineness of about .9248. Really nice gold. When pouring, usually the top of the ingot is irregular. This must be flattened so air will not cling to the ingot and throw off the specific gravity. Yes, that is what about an ounce looks like!

But there is a problem. William knows that this is from the Wiseman area, but does not know the exact origin. Hopefully, he will see his client soon, and I will make another token from the Koyukuk.

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