1851 Augustus Humbert $50. Lettered Edge. K-2. Rarity-5. 50 DC, 880 THOUS, No 50 on Reverse. EF Details--Damage (PCGS).A satisfying example of this rare issue that is encountered much less frequently than its Reeded Edge counterpart. The complexion is overall olive-gold in color, with traces of dark patina remaining in the recesses and around the devices. The surfaces display a uniform roughness associated with exposure to soil or saltwater, suggesting that this was likely below the surface for some extended length of time. Even so, the detail remains bold for the type and it saw just a paltry amount of actual circulation. A few small marks are noted on the reverse, including pair of brighter scrapes opposite the eagles left wing tip. While the central reverse is largely obscured by roughness and abrasions, close examination reveals no trace of the 50 punch that distinguishes the Kagin-1 variety from Kagin-2.<p>The United States Assay Office in San Francisco, California was established pending opening of an official branch of the United States Mint in that region. The expedient of establishing an assay office in California during the early 1850s was urgently required, and for a number of reasons. The discovery of gold in California in 1848 resulted in a large migration of people to the West Coast, the creation of a booming economy that was initially starved for a viable medium of exchange and the need for a way to refine the newly mined gold into a form that was suitable for both circulation and transport to the business centers on the East Coast. With Augustus Humbert appointed as assayer, the firm of Moffat & Co. initially accepted the contract to serve as the United States Assay Office, their large fifty-dollar gold ingots soon gaining widespread acceptance among banks and merchants.<p><p>The earliest Humbert fifties from 1851 display a lettered edge that reads AUGUSTUS HUMBERT UNITED STATES ASSAYER OF GOLD CALIFORNIA 1851. The specific type represented in the present lot lacks the number 50 in the center of the reverse, and it not quite as scarce as the K-1 and K-4 types with 50 on the reverse. K-2 is still very scarce in an absolute sense, of course, and our offerings of examples are usually few and far between. An important find for the advanced collector specializing in Territorial gold coinage, particularly those hailing from the heady days of Gold Rush California.PCGS# 10196.
