KAGINS SEPTEMBER 2017 SALE HIGHLIGHTS

Complete Variety Set of Nine $50 Humbert “Slugs” Featured in Kagin's West Coast Auction

A complete nine piece set of Augustus Humbert U.S. Assay Office $50 gold pieces are highlighted in the September 15, 2017 West Coast Auction in conjunction with the Santa Clara Expo coin convention held at the Santa Clara, California convention center. All Kagin varieties (listed in Private Gold Coins and Patterns of the United States, Arco Publishing 1981) are offered for sale individually.

“This is the first time in over a decade that all the $50 gold varieties are for sale in an unreserved public auction”, explained Don Kagin, president of Kagin's Auction, a division of Kagin's, Inc. “We’ve held well over 350 auctions since 1940 and I don’t remember the last time we were privileged to offer this many Humbert “slugs”, let alone, all the varieties,” he ventured.

According to the catalogers, the Yerba Buena (the original name of San Francisco) Collection was assembled over 25 years and comprises some of the finest specimens known including examples from the Clifford-Kagin collection—one of the finest and most comprehensive pioneer gold collections prior to it being privately sold in the early 1990s.

With the advent of the discovery of gold in January, 1848 in Coloma near present day Sacramento, California, thousands of prospectors rushed to San Francisco to mine the new gold fields. Others came to provide goods and services to an exploding population. Soon it became obvious that the use of gold dust and nuggets in trade was difficult and inaccurate. There was a critical need for a better medium of exchange--coins. By May, 1849 a number of private coining firms had opened up in Benicia, Sacramento and San Francisco. But many of them issued coins later found to be worth less than their face value. Merchants and bankers clamored for Government intervention by establishing a federal branch mint.

In a compromise with the powerful Congressional delegations from Pennsylvania, which already had a mint in Philadelphia, and New York whose representatives wanted their own mint, the California faction was able to pass a bill providing for a Provisional Mint which would act like a regular mint but without the coins having legal tender status.

In January, 1851, Augustus Humbert arrived in San Francisco as the U.S. government official U.S. Assayer of Gold for the new U.S. Assay Office in San Francisco. Humbert brought with him dies for a $50 gold piece and contracted with the most reputable private gold firm, Moffat "Co, to melt down, assay and strike new coins for commerce in California. The first coins that the Assay Office struck were eight sided 2 ½ ounce gold pieces soon dubbed “slugs”.

One of the more elusive specimens in the Kagin's West Coast Auction is one of those first issued--the 1851 .880 K-1 Lettered Edge variety with “50” on the reverse. The “50” and all eight edges were hand- struck with the lettering AUGUSTUS HUMBERT UNITED STATES ASSAYER OF GOLD CALIFORNIA 1851. The auction specimen is described as NGC MS-61 from the Clifford-Kagin collection.

Another lot is from the shipwreck, S.S. Central America and sports the distinctive gold label. It is described as an 1852 .887 Thous. target reverse Reeded Edge K-11 and graded PCGS AU-55 CAC.

Besides the Yerba Buena Collection the sale includes many more California pioneer gold pieces highlighted by the rare and popular $16 1849 Moffat "Co. ingot from the famous Louis Eliasberg, Sr. collection.

The auction is available online at www.kagins.com or a free catalogs of this upcoming auction which also offers much shipwreck artifacts and coins including a complete set of S.S. Central America gold Ingots, Hobo Nickels, The finest known Gem Proof $5 1860 and other U.S. Federal coinage and Americana, email info@Kagins.com, or call 888-8kagins (852-4467).

Wayne Homren, Editor

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