1851 California Gold $50 - "880" $50 RE Augustus Humbert

Coin Details

Auction Record

Description

This is the 1851 Humbert octagonal fifty-dollar piece at 880 THOUS. with a reeded edge. An act of September 30, 1850 let the Treasury contract with an established California assayer to cast gold into ingots bearing the stamp of a United States Assayer. Moffat & Co. took the contract, Augustus Humbert, a New York watchcase maker, was appointed assayer, and the first octagonal fifty-dollar pieces appeared about January 31, 1851. They show an eagle on a rock with the fineness (880 or 887 THOUS.), UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and the value, and an engine-turned reverse. The office was an assay office, not a branch of the Mint; the Treasury accepted its pieces for public dues until Congress stopped that in 1852. On the reeded-edge pieces Humbert's name and the date move to the border of the obverse and FIFTY DOLLS. is cut into the die; Adams credits these dies to Albert Kuner. The reverse has a small target at the center of the engine-turning. Catalogue number: K-5. PCGS number 10211.

Cross References

K-5