Gold Fever and the Bechtler Mint

This 30-minute historical documentary tells the little-known story of America's first gold rush, which took place in North Carolina during the early decades of the nineteenth century, nearly fifty years before the discovery of gold in California. Further, the film details the role of a middle-aged German immigrant, Christopher Bechtler, who, while living in a small town at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, created a successful private mint that produced the first one dollar gold coin in the United States.