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

2151

1852 $50 RE Humbert Fifty Dollar, 887 Thous.

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:14,500.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1852 $50 RE Humbert Fifty Dollar, 887 Thous.
<B>1852 $50 RE Humbert Fifty Dollar, 887 Thous.--Repaired--NCS. AU Details.</B></I> K-11, R.5. In 1851 commerce in California was conducted via an incredible hodgepodge of unassayed gold dust, discredited (rightly or wrongly) private gold coins of varying weights and finenesses, Mexican and South American silver coins of various sizes and kinds, an occasional U.S. federal coin, mostly copper; and the enormous Humbert-Assay Office fifty dollar slugs, which were trusted and of a known fineness, but too large, heavy, and unwieldy to have much immediate utility. By 1852, however, there were a couple of firms producing lower-denomination gold coinage, including the Assay Office and Wass, Molitor & Co., and the fifty dollar slugs had seen their heyday. The fields have been smoothed, giving the piece an unnaturally bright and prooflike appearance. The eagle's wings and the engine-turned reverse exhibit luster, and the strike is bold aside from the body of the eagle. Listed on page 353 of the 2008 <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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