1852 $10 MS(PCGS#8608)

1852 $10 MS (PCGS#8608)

November 2025 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Lot Description: Earlier private minting operations in California were effectively shut down in 1851 due to assays by Jacob R. Eckfeldt and William E. Du Bois revealing that many of these coins were worth less than their stated denominations, as well as damning exposés by James King. Moffat & Co.'s coins were largely unaffected and the firm kept producing desperately needed lower denomination coins. John Little Moffat retired in February of 1852 from the firm he founded, which promptly dissolved. Moffat & Co.'s original contract to issue gold ingots and coins on behalf of the federal government was transferred to its successor, the United States Assay Office of Gold, headed by Joseph R. Curtis, Philo H. Perry and Samuel H. Ward. As part of the original terms of the government contract, the Assay Office of Gold was prohibited from issuing any "ingot" in denominations under $50, therefore not providing any relief from the chronic coin shortages that plagued the gold bearing regions. Repeated petitions went unheeded until finally the Treasury relented and permitted the USAOG to produce coins in $10 and $20 denominations. These pieces found an immediately receptive audience and they circulated widely until the San Francisco Mint could finally fill the need. This $10 from the Assay Office's 1852 issue exhibits deep, rich colors in honey-rose and olive-gold and remains boldly defined for all major design elements.