2017-10-11 Wed

A counterstamped 1852 Augustus Humbert U.S. Assay Office of gold $10 piece, graded Very Fine 30 by NGC was sold for $17,265 at the West Coast Auction held by Kagin’s on 15th September along with the with the Santa Clara Coin Expo in California.

The 1852 and 1853 gold $10 issues of the United States Assay Office of Gold look traditional and were circulated locally unlike the $50 slugs. The offered coin has a counterstamp of H.H. Pierson and William W. Light, who were partners in a dental business. Many coins were counterstamped by merchants in the 19th century to promote their businesses. Small-denomination coins were majorly counterstamped while gold coins were not-so-frequently counterstamped.

Light hailed from Ohio and came to California with the original ‘49ers. Not much is known about H.H. Pierson. The coin is worn evenly and has a major die crack on the reverse. The deep golden surfaces of the host coin are mixed with rich orange toning in the fields.