1855 $20 California Gold Eagle - Wass Molitor & Co., Small Head PCGS XF45 (CAC)

Here’s a dramatic rarity from the days of Old California and the Gold Rush. Only 24 examples of the Small Head variety of the Wass Molitor & Co. $20 gold piece were graded by PCGS. Of those, there are 6 in XF45 with 9 finer. In CAC, there are 2 in XF45 with 3 finer.

Both Samuel Wass and Agoston Molitor were Hungarian patriots who fought in Hungary’s War of Independence from Austria in 1848. Both men had attended the School of Mines in Germany and therefore had a practical knowledge of mining and geology. So it is not very surprising that both men eventually ended up in California. They year 1851 saw them meet up in California and establish an assaying office in Gold Rush San Francisco. Their assaying office was extremely successful, owing to the fact that they paid their gold depositors only 48 hours after the deposit, rather than the 8 days that the United States Assay Office had at this time required.

Gold Rush-era San Francisco, circa 1851. Photo: Wikimedia Commons via Library of Congress.

The business concern of Wass, Molitor & Co. struck private gold pieces in denominations of $5 and $10 on an emergency basis, starting right after New Year's Day of 1852. Their coins were produced to fill the void of small denomination gold coinage in California, for all of the other private mints had closed their doors before 1851. Additionally, the United States Assay Office of Gold did not have the authority to mint any coins besides the oversized $50 octagonal slugs. Those slugs were excellent for larger transactions, but worthless in making change for smaller purchases.

After much back and forth discussions, Moffat & Co., who were under a government contract as the U.S. Assay Office, were finally given permission to strike lower denomination gold coins in 1852. Thus the two businesses produced enough gold coinage meet the needs of the region, resulting in no Wass, Molitor & Co. issues being produced in 1853 or 1854. However, the need became great again in 1855, and Wass, Molitor & Co. issued the $20 gold piece, such as the current offering from AUCM.