1852 887 ASSAY $50 AU58

LUSTOUS SURFACES ON THIS ICONIC TERRITORIAL GOLD SLUG. ONLY A HANDFUL GRADED HIGHER AT PCGS.VERY WELL STRUCK WITH SHARP DETAILS. The predecessor of the San Francisco Mint, the United States Assay Office of Gold was first organized in 1850. Congress gave the contract for this new facility to Moffat & Co., one of the most highly regarded private minting establishments in Gold Rush California. Augustus Humbert served as the government-appointed assayer. On December 24, 1851, John Little Moffat sold his company to Joseph R. Curtis, Philo H. Perry and Samuel H. Ward, his former partners in Moffat & Co. The old company was formally dissolved on February 14, 1852, Curtis, Perry and Ward picking up the federal contract under the aegis of the United States Assay Office of Gold. Humbert continued as assayer. The firm officially ceased operations on December 14, 1853 and sold its building and machinery to the federal government for use by the new San Francisco Mint. The largest-denomination coins issued by the United States Assay Office of Gold under Curtis, Perry and Ward are $50 gold pieces. Officially known as ingots, these impressive coins also went by the names of Quintuple Eagle, Five-Eagle piece or, more informally, slug. Examples were struck in 1852 and 1853, although the dies bore only the former date. Two varieties are known (.887 THOUS and .900 THOUS, in reference to the fineness of the gold), and both are scarce and eagerly sought by specialized numismatists as well as collectors with a more general interest in the California Gold Rush era.