LOT Heritage Rare Coin Galleries  /  2007 Signature Coin - Charlotte, NC #432  / 

2440

1852 $50 Assay Office Fifty Dollar, 887 Thous. MS61 NG

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:20,000.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1852 $50 Assay Office Fifty Dollar, 887 Thous. MS61 NG
<B>1852 $50 Assay Office Fifty Dollar, 887 Thous. MS61 NGC.</B></I> K-13, Low R.5. Newcomers to U.S. numismatics are usually surprised to learn that there exist so many clandestine coinage issues. But in many ways, what is equally, if not more surprising are the many instances in which members of the private sector stepped in to produce circulating coinage--or a reasonable facsimile thereof--when the U.S. Mint could not. Examples are legion throughout U.S. economic history: When the need arose for a local mint to coin the gold mined from the Piedmont hills of Georgia and North Carolina, it was not the U.S. Mint that first filled the need, establishing branch mints only in 1838. Rather the Bechtlers, Christopher and August, produced the United States' first circulating gold dollars, as early as 1831. During the 1832-1844 Hard Times era, private merchants of every stripe pitched in when U.S. minor coinage disappeared from circulation, producing the many varieties of pseudocoinage today known as Hard Times tokens--and producing a tidy profit, to boot.<BR> Then there are the many occasions where Federal and other economic entities both produced coinage during circulation shortfalls. The Humbert/U.S. Assay Office coinage falls into this latter category. In 1851 Augustus Humbert, U.S. Assayer, produced fifty dollar gold slugs that were accepted at par with legal tender Federal-issue coinage. After the discoveries of immense quantities of California gold, the U.S. Assay Office functioned as a "fill-in" mint until a permanent Western branch mint could be founded. The San Francisco Mint opened its doors only in 1854, striking its first quarter eagles, half eagles, eagles, and double eagles. In 1851-1852 the Moffat-Humbert coinage was brought about by the discredited private coinage resulting from the Assay Office coinage, and in that same year the Moffat & Co. firm was dissolved, replaced by a new entity, the U.S. Assay Office of Gold. During 1852 and 1853, the U.S. Assay Office of Gold struck ten, twenty, and fifty dollar pieces, of which the fifty dollar pieces, or quintuple eagles, are the most in-demand and pricey, especially in Mint State.<BR> The present .887 THOUS. K-13 variety is similar to the K-11 Humbert pieces, but the outer obverse periphery reads UNITED STATES ASSAY OFFICE OF GOLD SAN FRANCISCO CALIFORNIA, and there are other subtle differences. <B>This coin marks a significant milestone, as it appears to be the first problem-free Mint State example Heritage has offered,</B></I> at least since we began maintaining our permanent auction archives in 1993. The surfaces are green-gold, as usually seen, with just a hint of reddish patina around the obverse rim. Better struck than many fifties, this piece shows only slight softness on the arrow fletchings and eagle's right (facing) leg. Numerous small abrasions are peppered over each side, which account for the MS61 grade, but one should not lose sight of the conditional scarcity of this issue in Mint condition. NGC has certified only four pieces finer than the present example (the highest a single MS64), while PCGS has certified two pieces finer, both MS63. Listed on page 351 of the 2007 <I>Guide Book.</B></I><BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Coins & Currency (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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