2017-10-05 Thu

Privately issued pioneer and territorial gold coins were the major highlights at the West Coast Auction with the Santa Clara Coin Expo in California held by Kagin’s on 15th September. Interesting coins and other material related to the great California Gold Rush was offered at the auction. One of them was an 1852 Augustus Humbert U.S. Assay Office of Gold $50 slug, graded MS-62 with a CAC sticker which sold for $276,125.

The United States Assayer of Gold was Augustus Humbert. He was responsible for creating the famous United States Assay Office of Gold octagonal ingots which carried a denomination of $50. They were not always receivable at face value for most government payments.

These coins were popular in Western United States because regular issue coins were not freely available in these locations. These coins are sometimes referred as slugs but are commonly known as ingot.

The private company United States Assay Office of Gold in San Francisco issued two types of $50 slugs in 1852. One type had the marking 900 THOUS while the other had the marking 887 THOUS depending upon the fineness of gold. The offered coin is of the 887 THOUS Target Reverse Reeded Edge type. This medium gold coin has a good lustre in the satiny fields and over the design motifs.