1852 Humbert Fifty Dollar (1852 Humbert $50) NGC AU50. This lightly circulated 1852 Humbert slug has no distracting marks worth mentioning on its excellent surfaces. The coin shows none of the usual defects found such as rim or edge dents or fields that have been retooled or polished. The strike shows the normal weakness on the obverse, but all of the legends are legible and the target reverse shows no noticeable defects or strike weakness.

The obverse, designed by Charles C. Wright, has an eagle with wings spread partially behind a rock and shield. Behind one wing and in front of the other is a serpent, which is inscribed LIBERTY. Above the eagle is a banner with the legend 887 THOUS, which is the fineness of the gold. The design is encircled with the inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA with FIFTY DOLLARS below. A circle of beads surrounds this inscription. On the outside of the beads is another inscription AUGUSTUS HUMBERT UNITED STATES ASSAYER OF GOLD CALIFORNIA with the date below. The slug, also called a quintuple eagle and a five-eagle piece, had a target reverse designed by Augustus Humbert.

After the discovery of gold in California, the lack of a standard for assaying and converting oar and dust into coinage led the government to allow Humbert to operate an official assay office in San Francisco. Its existence was opposed by bankers who could no longer buy gold dust for six to eight dollars per ounce because Humbert paid sixteen dollars per ounce with a small deduction for manufacturing charges.

In 1850 a federal Assay Office was established which was authorized to issue $50 to $10,000 ingots. They were to be struck from refined gold, of uniform fineness, and with appropriate legends and devices, similar to those on our smaller coins with their value conspicuously marked and the inscriptions LIBERTY and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The primary difference between these ingots and regular coinage was the denomination. In effect the Assay Office was a provisional branch mint.

There were at least two reasons that the government did not immediately establish a regular branch mint in San Francisco. The first had to do with the oar that was found in California. It ranged from .850 to .925 gold. Federal gold was mandated to be .900 with not more than .050 silver and the rest copper. Both copper and parting acids were required to bring California gold to the federal requirement. However, these acids were not made locally and could not be easily shipped overland or through Panama. The California gold was brought to .880, .884, .887, or .900 gold by adding measured amounts of .999 gold. The second was the legal requirement that coins could only be made at a United States Minting facility. By calling the Humbert pieces ingots and the mint a U.S. Assay Office, legal complications were avoided. However, the pieces Humbert produced circulated as coinage. Mint officials required Humbert to report monthly as if he were a branch mint superintendent. In 1853 regular coinage dies were shipped to him in the event that he might able to make legal standard coins.

From 1851 to 1853 Humbert slugs were accepted as currency. The early issues had Humberts name and title U.S. ASSAYER OF GOLD on each piece. Later issues said UNITED STATES ASSAY OFFICE OF GOLD. In 1850 President Fillmore in fact monetized the issues of the Assay Office by declaring that they could be used to pay tariffs.

All Humbert slugs are rare and eagerly sought by investors and collectors. In its population report NGC shows 4 others graded AU50 with 19 better.