1860 Clark Gruber $10 Mountain, NGC AU Details. Whoever repaired this Clark, Gruber & Co. piece did an excellent job because it is an eye-appealing coin. Some mint luster remains in the protected areas. The coin is reasonably well struck with most of the details on both sides apparent. All of the legends are full and easy to read.

The obverse depicts a fictitious view of the mountain, Pikes Peak. In an arc around the top is the inscription: PIKES PEAK GOLD. Under the mountain is the word DENVER, with the denomination below written as TEN D. This inscription refers to the location of the mint rather than the source of the gold. Most of the gold came from the Central City area and towns west, not from Pikes Peak despite its use as a motif. The reverse shows a heraldic eagle facing left with wings outstretched. It is surrounded by the inscription CLARK GRUBER & CO. with the date below.

In the early 1860s in what is now Colorado, gold nuggets and gold dust were used for commerce because there was no other medium of exchange. Gold dust brokers paid twelve to sixteen dollars an ounce, and there were many abuses. It was impossibly difficult to transport gold to Philadelphia and equally impossible to transport coins from Philadelphia back to Colorado because of the danger and likelihood of stagecoach robbery and hostile Indians. To ameliorate these conditions, the Clark brothers and Emanuel H. Gruber became bankers, brokers, assayers, and minters. The Clark brothers were Austin and Milton. Milton was the firms attorney. He went to Philadelphia to buy dies and other equipment, and in 1860 the firm struck four denominations on July 11th. In their advertisement in the Western Mountaineer they said that The native gold is coined as it is found alloyed with silver. The weight will be greater, but the value the same as the United States coin of like denominations.

In the summer and fall of 1860, Clark and Gruber coined $120,000. However, they found that this first coinage was too soft and didnt wear well. To remedy this situation, they add a small amount of alloy but kept their gold content one percent above the federal standard. No one could accuse them of debasing their product.

In 1862 the company switched from making coins to making gold bars or ingots. This action was probably taken because of pressure from the federal government. The ingots were accepted at the value stamped nationwide and in Europe. None of these are known to exist today so researchers surmise that they were used either in industry or by the federal government as bullion for coin. The next year the federal government bought out the firm and opened a federal assay office. It became a branch Mint in 1906.

While NGC does not publish population numbers for details grading, they have certified only 56 1860 Clark-Gruber ten dollar coins in all conditions.