Lot 4890
1852 U.S. Assay Office $50 Gold, 887 THOUS. NGC graded MS-60. Lovely light golden toning on both sides. Some luster still evident. A brilliant and highly lustrous $50 slug that has typical preserved surfaces. It is often noted by numismatists that this issue is easier said than done to find fully struck. The centers pack full detail into the eagle design from a decidedly precision strike, with only marginal strike softness at the upper part of the shield, leg and claw. The wings and scroll show excellent detail, as does all lettering in the legends.
The latter style of $50 "slug" has a reeded edge (earlier ones carried lettered edges) and is struck from a die pair not involving individual processes (as in the complicated creation of the lettered edge pieces). The present piece shows luster in the form of light frost and the surface has some typical stray marks. This is the 887 THOUS variety. Why not "coin standard" .900 Fine? The necessity of the additional refining effort required to bring the melt up to standard would have been prohibitive in this early period (though it was accomplished later). The reverse, as in the previous 1851-dated piece displays the engine-turned design, sometimes attributed to Augustus Humbert who once made watch cases (presumably with engine themselves).
The $50 octagonal "slug," was a mainstay of California business transactions in the first years of Statehood. They were employed in large transactions, being the best coin of choice in a region of the country that had a dearth of circulating specie. It should also be noted that paper money was prohibited in California (under the Constitution of 1850), so until sufficient lesser denomination gold coins were made, these 2-1/2 ounce behemoths would have to do. Pop 2; 5 finer; 2 in 61; 3 in 62. (PCGS # 10016) .
Estimated Value $90,000 - 110,000.
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