LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 (ANA) Signature Coin Auction #444  / 

2152

1852 $50 Assay Office Fifty Dollar, 887 Thous.

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:90,000.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1852 $50 Assay Office Fifty Dollar, 887 Thous.
<B>1852 $50 Assay Office Fifty Dollar, 887 Thous. MS62 NGC.</B></I> K-13, R.5. In 1852 John L. Moffat sold his interest in Moffat & Co., and the firm was dissolved. The U.S. Assay Office reorganized under principals Curtis, Perry, and Ward, although it retained the right to use the Moffat & Co. name. Augustus Humbert continued on as U.S. assayer for the firm. A new fifty dollar issue was struck, similar to the so-called "Humbert" issues. However. while the Humbert pieces bear the obverse peripheral legend AUGUSTUS HUMBERT UNITED STATES ASSAYER OF GOLD CALIFORNIA 1851, the new U.S. Assay Office pieces bear the legend UNITED STATES ASSAY OFFICE OF GOLD SAN FRANCISCO 1852. One wonders why the sudden de-emphasis on Humbert and the replacement, basically, of his name with the SAN FRANCISCO location. Perhaps Curtis, Perry, and Ward suspected something concerning Humbert's future, or were going to move for a replacement? Or perhaps it was just a good business decision to de-emphasize personalities, and to stress the official nature of the fifty dollar slugs and their production in the city that would, two years later, officially be home to the San Francisco Mint. As it happened, the Assay Office itself dissolved in December 1853, and Humbert was "at liberty" in 1854. By 1855, he had struck up a partnership with John G. Kellogg, eponymously named Kellogg & Humbert.<BR> By the spring of 1852, Moffat & Co. had struck (unauthorized) ten dollar pieces, the U.S. Assay Office had struck tens and twenties along with the fifties, Wass, Molitor & Co. had struck fives and tens. For the first time since the Gold Rush began, there was ample, if hardly plentiful, circulating coinage. The road to success took a turn in late August, when Congress stated that only .900 fine coins were acceptable for the payment of customs duties. By late in the year, the Assay Office had surmounted that obstacle as well. Later in the year the Assay Office obtained new coinage presses "almost identical to that of the Philadelphia Mint" (Kagin), enabling the company to reduce its tariffs for coining twenties to the same amount as for fifties--effectively ending the circulation of the hated "slugs." Most of the pieces in circulation that were not shipped overseas to be melted, however, continued in circulation alongside the smaller denominations for several years, ending up in a grade of Very Fine or so, according to Bowers.<BR> The present K-13 example, with date 1852 and fineness 887 THOUS., can thus be considered as the "next to last" in the evolution of the fifty dollar slug varieties, with the 900 THOUS. pieces the last. This piece shows considerable mint luster clinging to the antique-gold surfaces that deepen to amber-gold near the rims. The surfaces are refreshingly free of major abrasions. While this is one of the more available Assay Office varieties, it is exceeded in both grade and appeal by few pieces indeed. It is one of three examples of this variety in MS62 at NGC, with none finer, while PCGS has certified two pieces in higher grade (6/07). Listed on page 355 of the 2008 <I>Guide Book.</B></I><BR><BR><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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