1855 $50 Wass, Molitor & Co. Fifty Dollar -- Repaired -- PCGS Genuine. AU Details. K-9, R.5....

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1855 Wass, Molitor Fifty Dollar, AU Details
K-9, Massive Territorial Gold Piece

1855 $50 Wass, Molitor & Co. Fifty Dollar -- Repaired -- PCGS Genuine. AU Details. K-9, R.5. 35th Anniversary Holder. Samuel Wass and Agoston Molitor were relative late-comers to the coinage business in California, first producing five and ten dollar gold pieces in early 1852. Like Moffat & Co. before them, their gold issues were well-accepted, because their five dollar gold coins were found to contain $5.04 worth of gold bullion when assayed. When the San Francisco Mint experienced production difficulties in its early years of operation, Wass, Molitor & Co. was one of the firms that helped meet the local demand for coinage. The fifty dollar denomination was struck in 1855, using a design that closely resembles the Liberty Head double eagles of the period.

The coins actually circulated far beyond the boundaries of California, and one piece found its way into the collection of Englishman John G. Murdoch. When the collection was auctioned by Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge in July 1903, lot 679 was the Wass, Molitor & Co. fifty. The lot was purchased by one of the Chapman brothers for the enormous sum of 84 pounds (about $400). To put that in perspective, one of the finest known 1794 silver dollars, the coin that later appeared in the George Earle, Harry Bass, and Phillip Flanagan Collections, brought only 48 pounds at this sale (as lot 835).
The present example has a polished look and shows a few minor contact marks and rim bruises that would be expected with such heavy gold coins, but there are no distracting abrasions. The piece possesses generous appeal, in spite of the distractions noted on the holder. Listed on page 417 of the 2024 Guide Book.
Ex: Fort Worth Signature (Heritage, 3/2010), lot 2857.
From The Old Pioneer Collection.

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