1849 $10 California Gold - Moffat & Co., TEN DOL. PCGS AU58 - Condition Rarity!

Beautiful bright yellow specimen of Moffat & Co. $10 eagle, a great rarity from the early days of the California Gold Rush. PCGS has graded 2 in AU58, with just 3 finer, making this stunning specimen a Condition Rarity. The finest in PCGS is MS62. NGC has 3 in AU58, with none finer. This early variety has DOL. on the reverse (instead of only D.). Plus the central leaf in the cluster below the S in S.M.V. reaches past the S. The Moffat $10 gold coin was modeled upon the federal issues of its time. The differences are:

• LIBERTY on the Coronet is replaced by MOFFAT & CO.
• UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is replaced by S.M.V. CALIFORNIA GOLD.

Miners during the California Gold Rush. This piece was crafted of gold from the Gold Rush.

Moffat & Co. was considered the most important private gold firm during the California Gold Rush. When the U.S. government decided to open the branch mint in San Francisco, they asked two of the firm's partners for assistance. The senior founder, John Little Moffat, had much experience in gold mining and production, having worked in the gold fields of Georgia and North Carolina and as an assayer before heading to California to make his fortune. 

When in California, Moffat and partners started an assaying and smelting business. Since they had testimonials from people such as the Secretary of the Treasury, Moffat & Co. hit the ground running upon arriving in California. They initially produced rectangular gold ingots that, while impractical, provided desperately needed coinage. Soon after setting up their shop, they engaged the services of die sinker Albrecht Ferdinand Kuner, who later engraved California's State Seal. Kuner modeled his work upon the federal Coronet gold coins of the period. While they were not the first private issues during the Gold Rush, they were considered to be of such premium quality that they sealed Moffat & Co.'s reputation as the leading private mint of the Gold Rush period.