2009

1852 United States Assay Office of Gold San Francisco $50. Kagin-14. 900 THOUS. Target Reverse. Octa

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Collections Start Price:20,000.00 USD Estimated At:60,000.00 - 75,000.00 USD
1852 United States Assay Office of Gold San Francisco $50. Kagin-14. 900 THOUS. Target Reverse. Octa
SOLD
50,000.00USD+ (8,750.00) buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2017 Sep 15 @ 22:51UTC-7 : PDT/MST
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This lustrous yellow-gold example of the variety exhibits traces of lively olive iridescence. The obverse rim is without serious blemishes, though we must note a bruise on the reverse rim at the 8 o’clock corner. Scattered marks come to light under low magnification, but the naked eye is spared any great physical indignities. The strike is marginally finer than is typical, even considering the wear on the high points.
On August 31, 1852 Congress stated that only federal gold coins and those of certain foreign countries were acceptable for the payment of customs duties. This was a major blow to the production of these coins as customs payments were a major source of revenue for the government and the mercantile community as a whole. Additionally the U.S. Assay Offices $50 gold pieces produced through mid-1852 were all below the required .900 fineness of the federal standard. The Assay Office was also now producing $10s and $20 gold pieces since they had obtained machinery to use for their minting that was almost identical to that of the Philadelphia mint. Inevitably the more convenient smaller denominations rendered the cumbersome $50s superfluous. As a result the new .900 fine coins were only struck for a few months in late 1852 or early 1853 and are much rarer than most other varieties.
Every variety of $50 octagonal Humbert or Assay Office coinage should be considered scarce at the very least, even those varieties with lower rarity factors; there are always more collectors than there are specimens to go around in this series, and the supply and demand theory is always a factor when bids are formulated.
All told, this particular pleasing example of just two “slug” issues that does not identify Augustus Humbert on the coin, will be your last opportunity today to take home one of these historic pieces.