1852 Moffat $10 Wide Date NGC MS61. 1852 Moffat & Co. $10 Wide Date (K-9, R-6) NGC MS-61. An exceptional piece of this rare issue, this no doubt is the finest known Moffat & Co. territorial gold piece produced at their office in 1852. Completely original and very well produced given the circumstances, this is a lovely coin with lots of history. While not from the earliest years of private coinage in San Francisco these remain extremely popular as true pieces of American history.

Much has been written about Moffat & Co. that the company would not need an introduction for specialists of territorial gold coinage. Among the most successful, if not the most successful private coiners in California, Moffat & Co. was the only company that remained active for virtually all the years private gold coins were produced in California. They were also contracted by the United States government to produce gold coins at the official United States Assay office of Gold, which first struck gold coins in 1851. In all, Moffat & Co. played a very important role in the early economy of San Francisco and California in general.

While a number of different issues and denominations were used by Moffat & Co. most are generally available in lower grades. The present issue, however, is virtually unknown in grades above Extremely Fine and even at that level of perseveration is seldom encountered. This is not an indication of an extremely low mintage, as at least 8,650 pieces were produced in January of 1852. The monetary situation, as described in the Alta California of January 8, 1852 was the true reason:

Private Gold Coins
A petition has been drawn upasking Messrs. Moffat & Co. to issue $300,000 in private coinage of the denominations of $5, $10 and $20The reason which is assigned for these measures promoting the introduction of private gold coin, is the scarcity of legal coinage of the smaller denominations. The reason is a true one, for the difficulty of obtaining small coin has been a subject of general complaint for two months past.

While none of the mentioned amounts would be small along the Eastern seaboard, they sure were in the western-most states. Living expenses were high, and everyday transactions were done in gold, dust or coin. Because there was a standard shortage of these small coins for long periods, issues like the present coin were eagerly welcomed by the public and circulated heavily. Because of this, present-day numismatists have an extremely hard task finding any of these pieces in such exceptional quality as we offer here.

Lovely and original orange-gold color is seen on both sides of this coin, with full luster on top of it. As can be expected for the assigned grade no wear is visible on either side, and no blemishes are worth mentioning individually. The strike is much stronger than usually encountered, and especially the reverse is bold. Some slight prooflike fields are visible on both sides, indicating that this might have been one of the earliest pieces struck, and perhaps saved as a memorandum or lost in the office of Moffat & Co. until found many decades later. A rare coin, finest known and very historical, this coin sure is to please the new owner.