1852 Moffat & Co., Close Date Gold Eagle

Coin Details

Auction Record

Description

This is the 1852 Moffat & Co. ten-dollar gold piece with a close date. 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 was struck after San Francisco businessmen asked Moffat & Co. for $300,000 in private coin. The eagle carries 880 THOUS., and the legend reads 264 GRS., the weight Eckfeldt and Du Bois said a ten-dollar piece of California gold needed. Greysheet lists close and wide dates (K-8 and K-9). Catalogue number: K-8. PCGS number 10252.

Cross References

K-8