Lot 3504
Kellogg & Humbert Gold Bar No. 601
123.15 oz. 909 Fine gold. Value at time of issue: $2314.07. This monumental gold bar is from the 1857 shipwreck of the S.S. Central America. Its fineness of .909 pure gold is higher than usual for native California gold. The lower right corner has been chipped off for assay purposes, as has the upper right corner on the back of the bar (as on all genuine bars). The control number of the bar, No. 601, is stamped on the back of the bar. This bar retains its original rose-russet patina.
Between 1852 and 1857, the S.S. Central America was responsible for transporting approximately one third of the gold found during the California Gold Rush, amounting to an estimated $150 million. This bar was part of the ship's three-ton gold cargo that left Panama, en route for New York, on September 3, 1857, and was lost on September 11, 1857, when the ship sank during a hurricane off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
With the loss of the gold cargo, New York banks began to fail and businesses closed, causing a financial crisis, not only in the United States, but also in Europe. It was called "The Panic of 1857.
Kellogg & Humbert were government-supervised assayers in San Francisco, but until the recovery of the wreck of the S.S. Central America in the 1980s, no bars by these important California Gold Rush participants were known.
The value of this bar at the time of its issue would have purchased many city blocks in downtown Los Angeles. It will be the centerpiece and the conversation piece of your gold collection.
Accompanied by the special leather edition of Q. David Bowers' A California Gold Rush History where this bar is photographed and listed. Estimated Value $100,000 - 110,000
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