Moran & Clark was a Sacramento firm, although the pattern is inscribed San Francisco. Moran & Clark was mentioned as a business reference in San Francisco newspaper ads in November 1849. Dan Moran, an associate of the firm, by November 28, 1850 had returned to the eastern part of the United States and was believed to be conducting an auction business in New York City. The earliest numismatic reference to these patterns appears to be William Von Bergen's 1889 premium list entitled The Rare Coins of America, while Edgar Adams took fuller notice of them two decades later.