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Sale 21
Pre-Long Beach Coin and Currency Auction
| California Gold Ingot Bars |
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| Lot |
Photo |
Description |
Realized |
Lot 1358 |
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Kellogg & Humbert Gold Bar No. 482
152.96 oz. 886 Fine gold. Value at time of issue: $2801.49. This monumental gold bar is from the 1857 shipwreck of the S.S. Central America. Its fineness of 886 pure gold is higher than usual for native California gold. The lower right corner has been chipped off for assay purposes, as has the upper right corner on the back of the bar. The control number of the bar, No. 482, is stamped on the back of the bar.
Between 1852 and 1857, the S.S. Central America was responsible for transporting approximately one third of the gold found during the California Gold Rush, amounting to an estimated $150 million. This bar was part of the ship's three-ton gold cargo that left Panama, en route for New York, on September 3, 1857, and was lost on September 11, 1857, when the ship sank during a hurricane off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
With the loss of the gold cargo, New York banks began to fail and businesses closed, causing a financial crisis, not only in the United States, but also in Europe. It was called "The Panic of 1857.
Kellogg & Humbert were government-supervised assayers in San Francisco, but until the recovery of the wreck of the S.S. Central America in the 1980s, no bars by these important California Gold Rush participants were known.
The value of this bar at the time of its issue would have purchased many city blocks in downtown Los Angeles. It will be the centerpiece and the conversation piece of your gold collection.
Accompanied by the special leather edition of Q. David Bowers' A California Gold Rush History.
Estimated Value $100,000 - 125,000.
View details and enlarged photos
| Realized
$101,200 |
Lot 1359 |
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Kellogg & Humbert Gold Bar No. 603
110.77 oz.903 Fine gold. Value at time of issue: $2,067.71. A very desirable example from the S.S. Central America shipwreck. Of note is the fineness of this bar which, at .903 pure gold, is very high for native California gold; it was usually found below this fineness. The lower right corner has been chipped off for assay purposes, as has the upper right corner on the back of the bar. Also, we note that the control number of the bar, 603, is stamped on the back of the bar.
As noted in the Bowers' publication, A California Gold Rush History, the Kellogg & Humbert bars are among the most numerous of the bars recovered from the wreck; however, because Kellogg & Humbert were such important participants in the California Gold Rush history, many coins being known from their partnership, it is these bars that best represent the California Gold Rush era. These bars were unknown until the wreck was recovered in the 1980s and made available to collectors in the year 2000.
The bar is accompanied by the special leather edition of Q. David Bowers' A California Gold Rush History. The new owner will undoubtedly spend many hours discussing the epic tales of the discovery of gold in California and the tragedy of the loss of life on the Central America wreck.
Truly a fantastic, historical relic which will be the centerpiece of your gold coin collection.
Estimated Value $70,000 - 85,000.
View details and enlarged photos
| Realized
$75,900 |
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