Lot 1902
1854 Kellogg & Co. (San Francisco) $20 Gold. NGC graded Details of Uncirculated Reverse rim filed. A nice bold strike, untoned with pleny of mint luster intact.
With the imminent opening of the San Francisco Mint, the United States Assay Office ceased operations on December 14, 1853. At that time no private firms were coining gold. The United States Assay Office, under contract to Messrs. Curtis and Perry, was being reconverted to house the authorized United States Branch Mint.
The coining firm of Moffat & Co., operating on the corner of Clay and Dupont Streets, hired John Kellogg, a recent arrival from New York. The latter remained with them through their move to Montgomery Street, during their service to the United States Assay Office, and during the transference of operations to Curtis, Perry and Ward.
In mid-January, 1854, several banking houses in San Francisco and Sacramento, feeling the deleterious effects of a coin shortage, wrote an urgent request to Kellogg & Richter to supply private coins until the U.S. branch mint became operational. Approximately two weeks later, on January 31, Kellogg & Richter replied that they could comply with the bankers' request within ten days.
True to its word, the firm issued its private gold coins on February 9, 1854. These were $20 pieces which Kellogg claimed his firm could issue at the rate of $20,000 worth per day. The dies for the coins, which greatly resembled those of the United States issues, probably were cut by Kuner.
Estimated Value $4,000 - 4,500.
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| Realized $4,830 |
