Mount Ophir

Tucked away in Mariposa County, California, Mount Ophir is a ghost town with roots in the earliest years of the California Gold Rush. It was established in 1850, and its most notable feature was the Mount Ophir Mint, an assay and stamping facility that operated under Augustus Humbert — the first U.S. Assayer of Gold in California. The mint produced distinctive octagonal $50 gold slugs, making Mount Ophir a small but historically significant node in early California's monetary history.

Today the site retains the quiet, faded character common to Gold Rush-era ghost towns. Visitors drawn to early American history and the story of frontier currency will find the setting evocative, though little physical infrastructure from the mint era survives above ground. It is best approached as a heritage stop rather than a developed attraction, with photography and sightseeing being the realistic draws.