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

2170

1855 $50 Wass Molitor Fifty Dollar AU50 PCGS

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:47,500.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1855 $50 Wass Molitor Fifty Dollar AU50 PCGS
<B>1855 $50 Wass Molitor Fifty Dollar AU50 PCGS.</B></I> K-9, R.5. The firm of Wass, Molitor was adaptable to the needs of commerce in northern California in the 1850s. Both of the principals of the company attended the School of Mines of Germany, both had experience in the mines of Hungary, and both were expelled by the Austrian government for their sentiments for independence during Hungary's war for independence.<BR> Wass and Molitor understood the coinage needs of Gold Rush California. Rather than issuing fifty dollar gold pieces when they first opened for business in 1852, instead they issued five and ten dollar coins. Any dependable, coined form of gold was preferable to the use of gold dust, but five and ten dollar gold pieces were more useful in the channels of commerce than the massive U.S. Assay Office "slugs" that were the government's answer to the needs of circulating coinage. Wass and Molitor issued these lower denomination pieces in 1852, and did not produce the large-size fifty dollar gold pieces until 1855.<BR> Resumption of Wass, Molitor coinage in 1855 is directly tied to the newly opened San Francisco branch mint's inability to strike any further gold coins after December 1854. Between April and December of that year, the mint produced more than $4 million worth of gold coins, most double eagles. Then the mint had to stop gold coin production because of a lack of parting acids that were used to refine the gold and copper alloy. Bankers and merchants petitioned Wass and Molitor to resume production of ten dollar gold coins. The firm struck ten and twenty dollar gold pieces, and they also minted the large-size fifty dollar pieces.<BR> The obverse closely followed the design of federal twenty dollar gold pieces. The reverse, however, has a wreath with the denomination inside, 900 THOUS on a scroll above, SAN FRANCISCO CALIFORNIA above and WASS MOLITOR & Co on the lower periphery. These pieces have the distinction of being the only round fifty dollar coins struck in Gold Rush California. They were widely accepted, and an assay conducted by the San Francisco Mint show that these slugs met the provisions of the coinage law. This piece has a distinctive accent of reddish patina on each side. Predictably, the surfaces are abraded as large-format gold coins were especially susceptible to marks. As with almost all Wass, Molitor coins, the central design elements are softly defined. The surfaces are bright and there is a noticeable amount of original luster remaining around the devices. <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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