UNITED STATES ASSAY OFFICE
GOLD COINS
Coins issued by Augustus
Humbert as Assayer of Gold
1851 $50
1852 $10
1852 $20
Coins issued by the United States Assay Office of Gold
1852 $10
1852 $50
1853 $10
1853 $20
History of the United States Assay Office
While the government’s
response to the need for an adequate coinage was slow and never
satisfactory, two institutions were established (the State Assay Office of
California and the United States Assay Office) that did provide an
unconventional and partly successful attempt to supply a frontier area
with an acceptable quantity of an "official" circulating medium.
The private coinage
proscription was not enforced by the public or government because the
State Assay Office failed to mint enough ingots for the local demand.
Ironically, an institution that was designed to replace the need for
private gold minting actually preserved it (i.e., Moffat & Co.'s
undebased coins from the first period continued in circulation) and in
fact stimulated its resurgence (i.e., the second period of private gold
coinage).
The State Assay Office of
California
The United States Assay
Office under Moffat & Co. (1851-1852)
The United States Assay
Office under Curtis, Perry & Ward (1852-1853)
--Reprinted with permission of the author
from Donald H. Kagin's, "Private Gold Coins and Patterns of the
United States", copyright 1981, Arco Publishing, Inc. of New
York, pp 163-167.
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