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[L#0953] SPECTACULAR KELLOGG $50 ROUND 1855 PCGS MS63

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:240,000.00 USD Estimated At:400,000.00 - 450,000.00 USD
[L#0953] SPECTACULAR KELLOGG $50 ROUND 1855 PCGS MS63
This is among the finest known examples of the legendary Kellogg $50 Proof, it may be the second finest known (after the Garrett specimen), or is tied for second finest in our opinion. An historic offering that races to the collection of Frank J. Hein, this well struck specimen has some hairlines in the fields (as on every survivor). Small planchet flake by the fourth star is a diagnostic of this particular specimen.

The obverse depicts a portrait of Liberty adapted from the $20 design of 1849-1907, but with her coronet inscribed KELLOGG & CO. Thirteen stars surround, and the date 1855 is below. The reverse has an elegantly designed perched eagle in the style of Charles Cushing Wright's 1851 Humbert coinage, but different in its execution and with the ribbon inscribed with the weight and fineness: 1809 grs / 887 thous. Around the border appears SAN FRANCISCO CALIFORNIA / FIFTY DOLLS. The fineness of 887 in many ways explains this coin's rarity, since once the federal mint opened at San Francisco, most below-900-fine gold was melted and restruck into standard issue $20 gold pieces.

To date, there are believed to be 11 different specimens of this rarity in existence. Most have been known for a long while and were likely made as presentation strikes for directors and shareholders of the Kellogg firm. It represents the capstone of the Kellogg coinage, of course, this largest denomination in Proof quality, and made a dramatic end in 1855 to the heavy production of privately minted California gold coins.

The round $50 1855 Kellogg & Company coin is one of the most desired Territorial issues whose fame has reached almost epic proportions that few other California gold pieces possess. There is a reason for this: the coin is among the most beautiful private gold coins ever made, and available only in Proof or impaired Proof. This carefully graded specimen is housed in a PCGS encapsulation and will undoubtedly become a part of a major collection of rare gold pieces when it sells.