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Images courtesy of Superior
Galleries
Recent appearances:
SEGS AU-55 (illustrated above). Ex - Superior
Galleries' "Pre-Long Beach Sale" May 27-29, 2001, Lot 4249,
where it was described as follows: "1851 Augustus Humbert $50 Gold
or "Slug." Reeded Edge. Target Reverse. 887 THOUS. About
Uncirculated 53. In an SEG holder marked as About Uncirculated 55, two
points higher than we grade it, but two points, many may point out, is mere
quibbling for a coin of this distinction, this notoriety, this heft! For the
truth of the matter is, a $50 slug weighs close to two and a half ounces of
gold, being the largest coin circulated at the time of the California gold
rush. It wasn't called a coin in those days, we ought to warn you, but
instead was referred to in newspaper accounts and on the mint's books as a
$50 ingot. Ingot or coin, it has all the charm and romance of its gold
rush heritage. This particular slug (we skirt the coin/ingot controversy by
calling it by its true name) has nice corners, nice surface, and better than
average strike wherein all lettering is readable with the sole exception of
AUGUSTUS. These were issued in the hundreds of thousands but most were
later taken up and melted once the mint at San Francisco opened for business
in 1854. Today, a slug in this condition, with this eye appeal, is sure to
elicit much attention."
EF-40, sharpness of AU-50,
lightly cleaned. Ex
– American Numismatic Rarities, LLC’s “The Classics Sale,”
July 25, 2003
, Lot
900, "887 THOUS, reeded edge, Kagin-6, Rarity-4", illustrated,
sold for $14,950.00
Sources and/or recommended
reading:
"Walter Breen's
Complete Encyclopedia Of U.S. And Colonial Coins" by Walter Breen
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