Market Analysis: Gold Rush era numismatics from Buffalo Bayou Collection

Market Analysis: Gold Rush era numismatics from Buffalo Bayou Collection

By Steve Roach , Coin World, Published: Feb 14, 2022, 11 AM

Heritage presented some wonderful examples of U.S. pioneer gold coins (sometimes called private or territorial gold) at its recent Florida United Numismatists Platinum Night auction in Dallas from the Buffalo Bayou Collection.

Tying for the lead was an 1850 Dubosq & Company gold $10 eagle graded Mint State 60 by Numismatic Guaranty Co. that sold for $480,000 on Jan. 14. With a design closely approximating the contemporary circulating Coronet gold $10 eagle, the issue is well-known as one of the rarest in the entire pioneer gold series.

The firm was named for Philadelphia jeweler Theodore Dubosq, who brought coining equipment to San Francisco in 1849. The firm’s gold coins were struck in two denominations, $5 half eagles and $10 eagles, and both are rare. This one is the second-finest of the 10 known $10 eagles, by Heritage’s roster, and it last sold for $329,000, in the auctioneer’s 2014 offering of the Riverboat Collection.