1852 $50 California Gold - U.S. Assay Office 887 Thous. PCGS XF45

Dramatic California Gold Rush rarity!

Purchase this piece, with its original greenish-gold coloration, and you will own a California Gold Rush classic that carries the iconic Humbert eagle motif. Just imagine having it in your collection and enjoying it for many years to come. PCGS has graded 15 as XF45 with 47 finer. Collectors Universe prices this rare issue at $47,500.00 in XF45.

Ron Guth writes in PCGS Coinfacts, "The $50 gold pieces issued by the United States Assay Office of Gold in San Francisco in the early 1850's were not actually coins per se. Rather, they were called 'ingots' at the time; today, we know them as 'Slugs.' Their real value, besides that stated on their face, was in standardizing the jumble of over-valued, underweight, and off-purity private issues prevalent at the time. Nowadays, the $50 slugs are among the most popular of all California gold pieces."

Mining on the American River near Sacramento, c. 1852. This $50 slug from AUCM was struck with Gold Rush gold. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

It was in the year 1851 that Augustus Humbert was appointed to the position of United States Assayer in San Francisco. That same year he established a provisional government mint, the United States Assay Office of Gold, in order to provide for the financial needs of the citizens of the new state of California. In 1851 and 1852, Humbert struck $50 gold slugs that were accepted at par with legal tender Federal-issued coinage. Common at the time of mintage, now they are great rarities.