For the first time in about three decades the Kellogg Twenty will come back to Baltimore. The 154-year-old $20 gold coin was a unique California Gold Rush specimen, which, for a certain period of time, was owned by John Work Garrett, who was a Baltimore resident, as well as a diplomat. The Kellogg Twenty is considered by a lot of coin collectors to be one of the finest gold coins in the United States from the middle of the 19th century.

It is worth mentioning that the grandfather of John W. Garrett (1872 – 1942) was the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad executive John Work Garrett (1820 – 1884), who was also the company's president. In his turn John Work Garrett was the eldest son of T. Harrison Garrett (1849 – 1888), who started collecting coins during his life as a student at Princeton. The collecting of rare coins marked lots of new rarities when the two sons of T. Harrison, John and Robert (1875 – 1961), became passionate with numismatics.

After his death in 1942, Mr. Garrett donated the $20 gold coin and his home to the Johns Hopkins University. In 1980 Mr. Hopkins sold the rare gold coin at the auction held by Bowers and Ruddy for $230,000. After that the coin passed through many hands. It was owned by Contursi two times, the first time in the period between 2002 and 2005 and since 2006. Currently the Kellogg Twenty is valued at $3 million. The Professional Coin Grading Service awarded the rarity with Specimen-69 grade.

"When you pick up this coin, you're literally holding Gold Rush history in your hands. This is a homecoming. It’s the first time it will be publicly seen in Baltimore in 28 years," outlined Steven L. Contursi, who currently holds the position of the president of Rare Coin Wholesalers of Dana Point, California, a company that now owns the coin.

The $20 gold coin was struck on February 9, 1854 by an ex-employee of U.S. Assay Office, located in San Francisco, John Glover Kellogg. After manufacturing the coin, Mr. Kellogg gave the coin to August Humbert, who was his friend and future business partner. Before Mr. Humbert started working as a New York watchmaker, he was a U.S. Assayer in San Francisco.

The coin spent biggest part of the 20^th century in the popular Garrett collection available at Johns Hopkins University. It was also kept in a vault located in Baltimore, Maryland. Besides Humbert, Garrett and Contursi, the rare gold twenty dollar coin was owned by Captain Andrew C. Zabriskie, Colonel James W. Ellsworth and Edward Milas.

"The renowned names of Kellogg and Humbert are an integral part of California's Gold Rush history. Only a few 1854 $20 Kellogg gold pieces survive today, and this is the only one designed a 'specimen strike' because of its exceptionally strong design features. It was specially made and is unique," mentioned Contursi.

The name of Kellogg notably features on the gold coin in the headdress that is worn by the symbolic Miss Liberty, found on the obverse of the coin. The coin's reverse features the inscription that states: "SAN FRANCISCO CALIFORNIA TWENTY D."

"There are few pre-1964 coins graded this high, and for that the coin is exceptional. Somebody took care of it from the moment it was struck," mentioned Douglas Mudd, who is currently the curator of American Numismatic Association's Money Museum.

Before presenting the coin and the forthcoming ANA convention, Mr. Contursi created an exclusive 5-foot-tall exhibit case made of wood, resembling the cabinets that included the coin collection of U.S. Mint during the 19^th century. The $20 gold coin will be presented at the American Numismatic Association World's Fair of Money, as well as at the Baltimore Convention Center. Anyone can observe the coin as the event is open for the public.