The magnetic properties of nanosized iron-oxo molecular clusters have been investigated via Mössbauer spectroscopy and compared to those of silica coated iron-oxide nanoparticles. The clusters, prepared by controlled hydrolytic iron polymerization reactions, contain a ∼ 1.2 nm diameter magnetic core of spin-coupled iron ions surrounded by a shell of benzoate ligands. The nanoparticles, prepared via sol-gel synthesis, contain a ∼ 4.0 nm average diameter γ-Fe2O3 core coated by a shell of SiO2. Both systems exhibit magnetic bistability at low temperatures with estimated magnetic anisotropy constants of Keff = 0.63x105 J/m3 for the clusters and Keff = 0.55 ×105 J/m3 for the particles. The similar values of Keff indicate that these two systems experience similar degrees of strain at the core/shell interface. This is further supported by the values of the quadrupole splitting, ΔEQ=0.77 mm/s for the clusters and ΔEQ=0.75 mm/s for the particles, pointing to same degree of distortion from pure octahedral or tetrahedral symmetry at the iron coordination sites for either system. Implications of these observations for the surface atomic structure of γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles are discussed.