1855 $20 California Gold Double Eagle - Kellogg & Co., K-3 PCGS AU53 Ex. SS Central America

According to the Christies Auction catalog of December 2000, lot #130 is an identical match to this coin. In the description, the cataloguer states "PCGS Data: One of five examples from the S.S. Central America treasure certified by PCGS, each grading similarly."

Rare territorial issue from the days of the California Gold Rush. There were 105 territorial gold coins found among the wreckage of the SS Central American. Of those, there were 50 Kellogg & Co. $20 gold pieces, including the current offering from AUCM. PCGS has graded 13 as AU53 with 36 finer. This great rarity is housed in PCGS's exclusive gold foil holder.

Kellogg & Co. begins minting gold coins

In December of 1853, the U.S. Assay Office in San Francisco, which had been minting the $50 'slugs,' ceased operations. No private mints were striking coins at that time. The erstwhile Assay Office was being reconstituted into the new San Francisco branch mint. It would be a while before the new branch mint would open its doors and banks and business firms had a desperate need for a steady stream of gold coinage. Due to the dire situation, John G. Kellogg and G.F. Richter, cashier and assayer of Curtis, Perry and Ward, were called upon by California bankers to open their own assaying office and mint. Kellogg opened his firm on December 14, 1853.

It was on February 9, 1854, that Kellogg and Richter began producing Kellogg & Co. $20 gold double eagles. Kellogg said that his mint could strike $20,000 worth of such coins each and every day. The dies for the coins were probably crafted by Albert Kuner. They were derivative of the federal-issued Liberty head $20 gold pieces that were minted for circulation starting in 1850. The differences between the private issues and the U.S. Mint issues were was the coronet on the obverse read KELLOGG & CO instead of LIBERTY, while the reverse around the rim read SAN FRANCISCO GOLD instead of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The Kellogg & Co. double eagles were also struck in 1855, for the new San Francisco branch mint's operations were erratic. In essence, without the mintage of $20 gold pieces by Kellogg & Co. in 1854-55, the California economy may very well have collapsed. Kellogg himself lived to become one of the State’s most respected citizens.