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Kellogg & Humbert Gold Ingot.

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:1.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
Kellogg & Humbert Gold Ingot.
<B>Kellogg & Humbert Gold Ingot.</B></I> No. 639. Deceptively heavy, this historic ingot weighs seven pounds. To give an idea of the relative value of money in the mid-19th century compared to today, when the <I>S.S. Central America</B></I> was discovered and began to be salvaged in 1988 several people became very wealthy. However, in 1857, because of the enormous amount of gold on board the ship when it went down, the loss of this amount of money was one of the causes of the financial panic of that year, affecting thousands of people nationwide.<BR> While the Kellogg & Humbert ingots are clearly the most "common" on the market today after recovery of this remarkable treasure, they are also the most historically desirable. John Glover Kellogg and Augustus Humbert were two of the most important and influential citizens of California at the time. Their partnership was formed early in 1855 and was reported in the April 2 issue of the <I>Alta California</B></I> newspaper. Author Dan Owens, in <I>California Coiners and Assayers</B></I> reproduced an editorial from the May 1, 1855 issue of the same paper. The editorial compared the operations of the Kellogg & Humbert firm to that of the recently established San Francisco Mint: "It is not generally known, but is nevertheless the fact, that the principal private assay office in the country effects over fifty percent more towards the supply of coin to the country than the United States Mint does." Eventually, there is no doubt the United States Mint gained much of the market share, and the Kellogg and Humbert partnership was ended on April 2, 1860.<BR> This is a medium-sized ingot whose face reads: No. 639 / KELLOGG & HUMBERT ASSAYERS / 112.03 oz / 881 FINE / $2040.27. The individual ingot number is repeated again on the top of the back side. The face of the ingot has a deep reddish patina that has accrued from exposure to the rusting iron of the ship. Most of the other sides are bright and golden. Also included is a deluxe edition of Bowers' <I>A California Gold Rush History.</B></I> <BR><BR><B>Important notice:</B> Heritage usually auctions material at the rate of 200-250 lots per hour. On some occasions eBay Live bid software or the Internet may not be able to keep up with the pace of the auction. We recommend placing a realistic absentee bid now as insurance to avoid disappointment. Occasionally the auctioneer may eliminate or reject an eBay Live bid, and the auctioneer may also reopen a lot after the close of the eBay live bidding (usually because we missed an audience bid), and may reject your bid even if it shows you as the winning bidder. By bidding via eBay Live, you agree that Heritage may award the lot to another bidder at its sole discretion under the circumstances described above or any other reasonable circumstances. Since eBay bids are not shown to us until we open the lot on the floor, we treat those bids just like floor bids. In most cases the floor responds before the eBay bid is presented to us, due to Internet lag time, so for consistency we have made it a policy that floor bids are always considered first over tie eBay live bids. Also please note that all Heritage lots purchased through eBay Live carry a 20% Buyer's Premium. Please make sure you read the Terms and Conditions before you bid. </span></font></tr></table></td></tr></table>