Heritage’s Sept. 7 to 13 Long Beach, Calif., auctions included the Twelve Oaks Collection of rare U.S. gold coins assembled by a Midwest collector.

Noteworthy for its scope and size, that collection realized $8.5 million across nearly 2,600 lots, and Heritage’s Long Beach auctions overall brought more than $31 million.

Leading the Twelve Oaks offerings was a 1795 Capped Bust gold $5 half eagle graded Mint State 62 by Numismatic Guaranty Corp. that sold for $141,000. More selections from the same collection are set for Heritage’s upcoming coin auctions in Dallas and New York City. 

Here is one of three coins from the Long Beach auctions that we're profiling in this week's Market Analysis:

The Lot:

1850 Moffat & Co. pioneer gold $5 coin, PCGS Mint State 62

The Price:

$51,700

The Story: 

Heritage observed that the Twelve Oaks Collection included a remarkably broad spectrum of gold coins, from early U.S. Mint issues to classic gold commemoratives, along with some pioneer gold pieces. This privately struck 1850 Moffat & Co. pioneer gold $5 coin, graded Mint State 62 by Professional Coin Grading Service, features an obverse design that mimics contemporary Coronet $5 half eagles, replacing LIBERTY with MOFFAT & CO on Liberty’s diadem. 

It sold for $51,700 at Heritage’s Sept. 9 sale.

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The reverse shows extensive evidence of die cracking and crumbling, but despite that, it has a bold strike, and Liberty’s portrait is especially well-defined. Though the Moffat firm struck coins for only a few years, the description concludes it “was the most important and longest-lasting of the California private minters, and their coins today are historic reminders of the heady Gold Rush days.”

Keep reading analysis of Twelve Oaks Collection gold coins:
		An affordable example of the typically high-priced 1877-CC Coronet gold half eagle: The coin sold provided a convenient entry point for a collector to purchase this otherwise expensive and rare Carson City Mint issue with a low mintage of 8,680.
		1848 Coronet, CAL. gold quarter eagle could be first U.S. commemorative coin: Collectors will long debate whether the 1,389 1848 Coronet gold $2.50 quarter eagles with CAL. stamped above the eagle’s head on the reverse are truly the first U.S. commemorative coins.