FLOAT
1851 Augustus Humbert fifty-dollar octagonal gold 'slug' with the 887 THOUS fineness banner, obverse and engine-turned reverse, from an 1898 Popular Science Monthly plate; pictured example unidentified — not necessarily the PCGS MS62+ specimen the FLOAT constituent is priced on.
1851 Augustus Humbert fifty-dollar octagonal gold 'slug' with the 887 THOUS fineness banner, obverse and engine-turned reverse, from an 1898 Popular Science Monthly plate; pictured example unidentified — not necessarily the PCGS MS62+ specimen the FLOAT constituent is priced on.

1851 Humbert Fifty Dollar (Territorial Gold)

Maker
Augustus Humbert / U.S. Assay Office (San Francisco)
Year
1851
Rank
65 of 100
Identifier
$50 gold 'slug', Lettered Edge, 887 Thous., 50 Reverse, PCGS MS62+

1851 Humbert Fifty Dollar (Territorial Gold)

Realized at auction: $456,000, dated 2025-03-02. This is a realized sale. Somebody paid it.

What is it, and why is it in the FLOAT 100?

The iconic California Gold Rush octagonal $50 'slug' — territorial gold that circulated as money in early San Francisco.

$50 gold 'slug', Lettered Edge, 887 Thous., 50 Reverse, PCGS MS62+

What is the best-sourced number for it?

Figure
$456,000
Kind
Realized at auction
Date
2025-03-02

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, 1851 Humbert Fifty Dollar (Territorial Gold) is number 42 of 100 in the coins entries of the FLOAT 100. 92 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (65 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

How this is made

The figure
One reference price, shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
Realized or not
A realized price is a completed sale. A market asking price and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
Why no grade ladder
Most FLOAT 100 entries are individual objects. There is one of this, so there is no population and no spread across grades to show.
Archive
2026-08-08

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FLOAT is a free tracker. Add the coins you own, keep photos and certificates with each item, and see a value built from real sales at your item's grade. This page is a public reference; it does not offer, price or sell insurance.