Incredible Gem Proof Coin from California's Gold Rush Era, John Glover Kellogg's Personal 1852/1 Humbert $20 To Be Sold in Heritage's Orlando FUN Auction

DALLAS, TEXAS: An incredibly rare 1852/1 Humbert Double Eagle from gold-rush California, once the personal property of John Glover Kellogg (cashier for Moffat & Co., which struck the 1852/1 $20 round "ingots" under the authority of the U.S. Assay Office of Gold) will be auctioned by Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas at their January 3-6, 2007 Orlando auction. The coin will be offered without reserve. Heritage's official auctions at the Florida United Numismatists convention, being held at the Orange County Convention facility in Orlando, are expected to total more than $60 million of rare coins and currencies. Most lot descriptions and full-color, enlargeable images can now be viewed online at HA.com as the catalog is prepared; the complete catalog will be officially posted and open for bidding in mid-December.

"The 1851 opening of the U.S. Assay Office," reflected Heritage President Greg Rohan, "was a boon to San Francisco's gold rush economy. Miners and merchants could deposit gold dust and receive fair value in the form of $50 gold pieces, which were also accepted at par by the U.S. Customs Office. These large Assay Office pieces effectively removed smaller, often undervalued private gold coins from circulation, but business was greatly impeded by the absence of lower denomination coins. The Assay Office repeatedly requested permission to produce $10 and $20 coins, and dies dated 1851 were prepared."

Continued Rohan: "Permission to strike $10 and $20 coins was received in early 1852, the dies were overdated to 1852/1, and coinage was subcontracted to Moffat & Co. The Gem proof 1852/1 Humbert $20 we are offering in F.U.N. was the personal coin of John Glover Kellogg, who was the cashier for Moffat & Co., which struck the 1852/1 $20 round 'ingots' under the authority of the U.S. Assay Office of Gold. This Gem is worthy of the finest territorial gold collection, and the opportunity for acquisition may not arrive again for decades, as it is one of only two or three proofs known for the issue."

"John Glover Kellogg was a central figure in California Territorial gold. He later was a partner in Kellogg & Richter, which struck 'Kellogg' $20 pieces in 1854 and 1855, along with a few 1855 $50 proofs. (At F.U.N., Heritage is also offering one of these 1855 Kellogg & Co. $50s, certified Choice Proof, and a Wass Molitor $50 certified MS60 PCGS.) In 1855, Kellogg again joined forces with former U.S. Assayer Augustus Humbert (after the new San Francisco Mint put the Assay Office out of business), and many of their stamped large gold ingots were cargo on the famous S.S. Central America shipwreck."

Kellogg died in 1886, and several high grade territorial gold pieces passed down from him were included in the October 27, 1916 Thomas L. Elder auction, with this Gem proof cataloged as lot 742. Chicago beer baron and legendary collector Virgil Brand (1862-1926) was likely the winning bidder, and upon Brand's death, his brothers Armin and Horace inherited the massive collection of 350,000+ items. Prominent numismatic dealer Burdette G. Johnson (1885-1947) helped appraise the Brand estate, and sold pieces consigned by Armin Brand beginning in 1932. Johnson sold this proof 1852/1 Humbert $20 to Chicago collector Jacob F. Shapero, thence to be auctioned as lot 1058 in Stack's December 1944 J.F. Bell auction, where it sold to Major Alfred Walter. Believed to be unique in 1944, the coin was mistakenly believed to be a different example, with a very different pedigree (its rightful history has now been restored, although it is still uncertain if two or three examples have survived). Walter's collection appeared in New Netherland's 60th public auction, held December 1968, where this was lot 574, selling for $3,200. The piece emerged in two different Superior auctions, first as lot 2328 in an October 1990 sale (selling for $434,500), then as lot 1737 in the October 1992 Clark E. Adams & Duncan MacMillan catalog.

"This extraordinary coin, with such an impeccable pedigree," concluded Rohan, "is worthy of the finest territorial gold collection, and the opportunity for acquisition may not arrive again for decades."

Featured consignments at F.U.N. include: The Blowing Rock Collection, Part Two; The Cocoa Beach Collection; The Essex Palm Collection Of Early Federal Coinage; The Freedom Collection; The Hill Country Collection; The Jones Beach Collection of Patterns and Type; The Dale A. Konigsburg Collection; The Kutasi Collection; The Lanterman's Mill Collection; The Dr. Robert J. Loewinger Collection of Proof Gold Rarities; The William Luebke Collection of Bust Dollars; The Monedas Oro Collection; The Oak Island Collection; The James Paul Collection; The Prinzi Trust Collection; The RNB Collection; The Stone 1837 Collection; The Temecula Collection; The Twin Hollows Collection; The Westmoreland, Virginia Collection, Part Two; The Troy Wiseman Collection of Colonial Coins.

For information about consigning to a future auction, call one of our Consignment Directors on our Hotline: 1-800-872-6467 ext. 222 (Coins) or ext. 555 (Currency).

Images, descriptions, and prices realized from all of Heritage's previous auctions are available in the Permanent Auction Archives at the Heritage website, www.HA.com.

To reserve a copy of the catalog for any upcoming Heritage auction, please contact Nicole Jewell, c/o Heritage Auction Galleries, 3500 Maple Avenue, 17th Floor, Dallas, TX 75219, or call 1-800-872-6467, ext. 272.