1849 Moffat & Co. Sixteen Dollar Ingot

Coin Details

Description

This is the Moffat & Co. sixteen-dollar gold ingot of 1849, a stamped rectangular bar rather than a coin. John L. Moffat, a New York assayer, sailed for California in February 1849 with machinery to assay gold dust and give it a stamped value. Moffat & Co. issued rectangular gold ingots and, in 1849 and 1850, five- and ten-dollar pieces that closely follow the federal designs, with MOFFAT & CO. on the coronet and S.M.V. CALIFORNIA GOLD around the eagle. The coins were quoted at par in San Francisco. The firm stopped its own coinage when it took the U.S. Assay Office contract early in 1851, struck a ten-dollar piece in 1852 at the request of local businessmen and a twenty-dollar piece in 1853. It reads MOFFAT & CO., 20 3/4 CARAT and $16.00 in three lines. Adams thought rectangular ingots like it were probably the first gold to pass as money in California, and that the term slug began with them. Catalogue number: K-3.

Cross References

K-3