2002 September Long Beach Signature Sale Sale #300 - Session 5

1852 $10 Assay Office Ten Dollar--Tooled, Cleaned--ANACS. Unc Details, Net XF45. K-10, R.6. Strong Beads Reverse. This coin offers sharply impressed d

1853 $10 Assay Office Ten Dollar, 900 Thous. AU50 PCGS. Ex: Central America. K-16, Low R.6. Struck between March and April of 1853, the Ten and Twenty

1853 $20 Assay Office Twenty Dollar, 900 Thous. MS61 NGC. K-18, R.2. A remarkable 2.5 million pieces were produced of this variety in a short seven-mo

Baldwin & Company were initially jewelers and watchmakers. They were one of the few firms, which met (and exploited) the demand for a sufficient...

Pioneer gold coinage is uniquely American. The phenomenon of a circulating private gold coinage that resulted from the Southern Appalachia and Western

(1842-52) G$1 A.Bechtler Dollar, 27G. 21C. MS61 NGC. K-24, R.3. Even though many thousands of Bechtler Dollars were produced, very few survived in Unc

(1842-52) G$1 A.Bechtler Dollar, 27G. 21C. MS61 NGC. K-24, R.3. This is a bright and highly lustrous example of this scarce territorial gold issue. Li

(1842-52) $5 A.Bechtler Five Dollar, 134G. 21C. XF45 PCGS. K-27, Low R.5. One of the more available Half Eagles struck by the Bechtlers, this is a ple

(1837-42) G$1 C.Bechtler Dollar, N Reversed--Damaged--ANACS. AU Details, Net VF20. K-4, R.4. Cleaned at one time and now retoning with a bright rose p

(1837-42) G$1 C.Bechtler Dollar, N Reversed AU58 NGC. K-4, R.4. Formerly offered as lot 7877 in our 2002 FUN Sale, where it was described as, "...

(1837-42) $2 1/2 C. Bechtler Quarter Eagle, 64G. 22C. AU53 PCGS. K-11, R.6. Among the most widely respected Territorial mints in U.S. history, the Bec

(1837-42) $2 1/2 C. Bechtler Quarter Eagle, 64G. 22C. MS61 PCGS. K-11, R.6. Another, and even finer Christopher Bechtler Two-and-a-Half, this coin is

(1837-42) $5 C.Bechtler Five Dollar, 134G, With Star XF45 PCGS. K-20, R.4. Formerly offered as lot 6411 in our 1996 FUN Sale, where it was described a

(1837-42) $5 C. Bechtler Five Dollar, 134G, With Star AU50 PCGS. K-20, R.4. Produced during the same era as the Christopher Bechtler Quarter Eagle in

Prior to the turn of the 19th Century, trappers and fur traders told of gold in the South Park area of Colorado. By the mid-1850s, news of gold discov

1860 $5 Clark, Gruber & Co. Five Dollar AU53 ANACS. K-2, R.4. This is a pleasing representative of this elusive Clark, Gruber & Company issu...

1861 $2 1/2 Clark, Gruber & Co. Quarter Eagle MS62 NGC. K-5a, R.7. Just a bit weakly struck in the centers, as one would expect from this issue,...

1861 $10 Clark, Gruber & Co. Ten Dollar--Scratched--ANACS. AU Details, Net XF45. K-7, R.4. The amount of remaining definition and the scarcity o...

1861 $10 Clark, Gruber & Co. Ten Dollar MS60 NGC. K-7, R.4. This is the finest 1861 Clark, Gruber we have handled since the Uncirculated coin in...

1861 $20 Clark, Gruber & Co. Twenty Dollar--Repaired--ANACS. XF Details, Net VF20. K-8, High R.5. This is a seldom-seen Colorado private issue. ...

1861 $20 Clark, Gruber & Co. Twenty Dollar (K-8) Struck Over an 1853 U.S. Assay Office Twenty Dollar (K-19) MS62 PCGS. New Kagin designation K-1...

1860 $20 Clark, Gruber $20 Copper Die Gilt Trial--Cleaned--ANACS. AU Details, Net XF40. K-4a, R.5. This interesting pattern was engraved back east by

Most Californians were not satisfied with private gold coiners or even the short-lived State Assay Office and demanded a United States branch mint, wh

No lot. Important notice: We expect to be auctioning lots at the rate of 200-250 per hour. Sometimes eBay Premier live bid software cannot keep up wit

1851 $50 RE Humbert Fifty Dollar, 880 Thous. VF35 PCGS. Laminated Planchet Obverse. K-5, Low R.5. The fact that this coin has a huge planchet laminati

1851 $50 RE Humbert Fifty Dollar, 887 Thous. XF40 Fields Tooled, Cleaned Uncertified. K-6, R.4. The first coins produced by the United States Assay Of

1851 $50 RE Humbert Fifty Dollar, 887 Thous. XF45 Rim Tooled Uncertified. K-6, R.4. A second Uncertified representative of this variety, both sides ex

John Glover Kellogg was cashier for Curtis, Perry & Ward of the U.S. Assay Office of Gold. When the branch mint opened (and effectively took ove...

1855 $50 Restrike Kellogg & Co. Fifty Dollar PR65 PCGS. A brilliant, deeply mirrored cameo proof. Struck from melted down Kellogg ingots recover...

Among the first coiners in California was Miners, Bank, an outgrowth of the many business interests of Stephen A. Wright and Samuel W. Haight in San F

(1849) $10 Miners Bank Ten Dollar AU58 PCGS. K-1, R.6. Unlike the previous piece, which was struck in silver alloy, this coin was struck on a planchet

Upon hearing of the California gold rush, John Little Moffat, who had worked the gold fields of Southern Appalachia along with three other New Yorkers

1849 $5 Moffat & Co. Five Dollar AU55 NGC. K-4, R.5. A high grade and attractive Moffat that has rich green-gold color and a few scattered abras...

1850 $5 Moffat & Co. Five Dollar AU58 NGC. K-7, R.4. Struck shortly after discovery of gold on the American River in California the previous yea...

1849 $10 Moffat & Co. Ten Dollar, "Ten Dol." VF25 PCGS. K-6a, High R.5. The first coins issued by the private firm of Moffat & Com...

1849 $10 Moffat & Co. Ten Dollar, "Ten D." VF20 PCGS. K-5a, High R.6. K-5a is differentiated from K-5 by large letters around the reve...

1852 $10 Moffat & Co. Ten Dollar VF20 PCGS. K-9, R.6. The wide spacing between the digits in the date is the diagnostic feature of this die vari...

1852 $10 Moffat & Co. Ten Dollar VF20 PCGS. K-8, R.6. Beginning January 12, 1852, 8,650 Ten Dollar Gold Pieces were issued after Moffat & Co...

Ironically, the first enterprise to produce private gold coins from California gold dust was not located in that area at all, but in the Territory of

1849 $5 Mormon Five Dollar XF45 PCGS. K-2, R.5. After the Gold Rush in California began in earnest in 1848, at the end of that year enough gold dust h

1850 $5 Mormon Five Dollar XF45 PCGS. K-5, High R.5. The 1850 Mormon Half Eagle differs primarily from the 1849 issue as it has a redesigned obverse w

1860 $5 Mormon Five Dollar AU58 PCGS. K-6, High R.5. The 1860 Half Eagle is undoubtedly the most famous and widely recognized of the six Mormon issues

Although gold was discovered at Sutter's Fort near present day Coloma, California on January 24, 1848, it was not until May of the next year tha...

1849 $5 Norris, Gregg, & Norris Five Dollar, Reeded Edge AU55 PCGS. K-3, R.6. The absence of an obverse period after the word ALLOY differentiat...

Oregon pioneers were among the first to hear of the discovery of large quantities of gold in California and among the first immigrants to the gold fie

1849 $10 Oregon Exchange Co. Ten Dollar XF40 PCGS. K-2, High R.6. Production of Ten Dollar gold coins by the Oregon Exchange Company started after the

1849 $5 Pacific Company Copper Gilt Five Dollar Pattern AU50 Uncertified. K-4, High R.7. Sharply struck with the obverse displaying a pole holding the

Count Samuel C. Wass and Agoston P. Molitor founded an assay office in San Francisco in October 1851. Both were Hungarian patriots who were expelled f

1855 $20 Wass Molitor Twenty Dollar, Small Head VF25 PCGS. K-7, High R.6. This Twenty Dollar gold piece was one of the coins issued by Wass, Molitor,

1855 $50 Wass Molitor Fifty Dollar VF25 PCGS. K-9, R.5. In addition to Twenty Dollar gold pieces, the firm of Wass, Molitor, & Company on Mercha...