1851 "880" $50 LE Augustus Humbert, No "50" MS(PCGS#10196)

The Summer 2022 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

7243

等级

AU53

价格

910,100

详细说明

Rare AU 1851 K-2 Humbert $50 Lettered Edge, 50 DC, 800 THOUS, No 50 on Reverse 1851 Augustus Humbert $50. Lettered Edge. K-2. Rarity-5. 50 DC, 880 THOUS., No 50 on Reverse. AU-53 (PCGS). A thoroughly satisfying example of this rare issue that is encountered much less frequently than its Reeded Edge counterpart. The surfaces are exceptionally well preserved for the type with much of the satiny luster remaining. The more persistent viewer will also be rewarded with faint traces of prooflike reflectivity in the protected areas around many of the obverse design elements. Subtle olive highlights blend with dominant pale gold color. The surfaces are remarkably smooth for such a large size gold coin from the early California Gold Rush era. The rims are also impressively smooth, and neither side reveals more than a few small to medium size handling marks scattered about. Bold to sharp striking detail rounds out a truly impressive list of attributes for this remarkable Humbert $50. The United States Assay Office in San Francisco, California was established pending opening of an official branch of the United States Mint in that region. The expedient of establishing an assay office in California during the early 1850s was urgently required, and for a number of reasons. The discovery of gold in California in 1848 resulted in a large migration of people to the West Coast, the creation of a booming economy that was initially starved for a viable medium of exchange and the need for a way to refine the newly mined gold into a form that was suitable for both circulation and transport to the business centers on the East Coast. With Augustus Humbert appointed as assayer, the firm of Moffat & Co. initially accepted the contract to serve as the United States Assay Office, their large fifty-dollar gold ingots soon gaining widespread acceptance among banks and merchants. The earliest Humbert fifties from 1851 display a lettered edge that reads AUGUSTUS HUMBERT UNITED STATES ASSAYER OF GOLD CALIFORNIA 1851. The specific type represented in the present lot lacks the number 50 in the center of the reverse, and it not quite as scarce as the K-1 and K-4 types with 50 on the reverse. K-2 is still very scarce in an absolute sense, of course, and our offerings of attractive, problem-free examples are usually few and far between. An important find for the advanced collector specializing in Territorial gold coinage, particularly those hailing from the heady days of Gold Rush California. Provenance: From the Madrone Collection. PCGS Population: 9; 33 finer, 15 of which are Mint State. PCGS# 10196. NGC ID: ANH3. Click here for certification details from PCGS. Click here to see Coins in Motion.[“Coins]