1851 "880" $50 LE Augustus Humbert, No "50" MS61 认证号25278028, PCGS号10196

Ron Guth

In 1851, Augustus Humbert began producing $50 gold coins at a provisional U.S. Assay Office.  These large coins, also known as "Slugs", brought some sense of order to the chaos of the gold dust economy in San Francisco.  Weights and purity became standardized, thus mitigating much of the cheating and dishonesty that marred business dealings during the Gold Rush.  As with any first attempt, Humbert encountered several problems, mostly with the excessive number of steps required to produce a single coin.  First came the striking of the coin itself, followed by hand-stamping each of the eight edges, punching "880" into the scroll above the eagle, and "50" in the field to the left of "D C" beneath the eagle.  The Kagin-1 variety received an additional "50" stamp in the center of the target on the reverse; Kagin-2 did not.

Many of the $50 Slugs were melted down over the years after becoming victims of their high face value.  Numerous survivors show corner bruises or repairs to remove them.  Others have been cleaned or repaired to present an acceptable appearance.  Perhaps as many as a couple hundred examples survive in all.  Very few Mint State examples are known, the finest of which is a single PCGS MS63+ currently in the Simpson Collection.