1852 United States Assay Office of Gold $10. K-12a(2). Rarity-5. AU-50 (PCGS). Pretty peripheral toning in champagne-pink iridescence frames bright medium gold surfaces. The strike is excellent overall with strong definition, including on the delicate lacework design on the reverse and throughout much of the eagles plumage. Faint hairlines are mentioned for accuracy, but there are no sizeable marks, and abundant satin luster remains.<p>Earlier private minting operations in California were effectively shut down earlier 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 kept producing desperately needed lower denomination coins. John Little Moffat retired in February of 1852 from the firm he founded, Moffat & Co., 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.<p>There are two principal varieties of the 1852 $10 coin based on the placement of the letter O in OFFICE in relation to the word UNITED. Here, the O is directly under the N and the dentils are weak on the reverse, which is the most frequently encountered variety of the K-12a reverse. Available in lower to middle level circulated grade levels, the K-12a(2) is quite scarce in problem-free AU or Mint State. An all-around appealing coin with much to offer discriminating numismatists.
