Kellogg & Co. was one of the last private coiners to appear in San Francisco, but its double eagles were well made and well engraved. One of those responsible for the artwork was Ferdinand Gruner, another Central European emigre who may have also been responsible for some of the fractional gold coinage of the decade of the 1850s.
Kellogg & Co. was an offshoot of a larger firm, Moffat & Co. John Glover Kellogg had served as Moffat's cashier, while the other principal, G. F. Richter, had been its assayer.
Perhaps emboldened by public acceptance of their twenty-dollar coins, Kellogg & Co. put plans into motion to produce a fifty-dollar piece. Eleven coins, all proofs, survive to bear testimony to this idea. But no business strikes resulted, even though a competitor, Wass, Molitor & Co., did succeed in circulating such pieces during that same year.
Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.
If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.