CoinNews.Net: "SS Central America Treasure Includes Rare Territorial Gold Coins"
Goldbully
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Who doesn't love gold treasure from a Ship of Gold?
Some real treasure here.
SS Central America Treasure Includes Rare Territorial Gold Coins
by CoinNews.net on July 9, 2018
Some of the finest known Kellogg & Co. and Wass Molitor & Co. San Francisco gold coins are among the 105 historic California Gold Rush Territorial coins recovered during the last expedition to the fabled "Ship of Gold," the SS Central America, that sank in 1857.
The latest SS Central America sunken treasure recovery yielded the second finest known 1854 Kellogg $20 Territorial gold coin, now graded PCGS MS62+. Photo credit: Professional Coin Grading Service www.PCGS.com.
The headline-making recovery also includes a rare variety U.S. Assay Office $20 coin and an unusual counterstamped Wass Molitor $5 gold piece.
One of the finest known 1855 Wass Molitor Small Head variety $20 gold coins, PCGS AU58, is part of the latest SS Central America recovered sunken treasure. Photo credit: Professional Coin Grading Service www.PCGS.com.
These are some of the latest major discoveries revealed in the continuing chronicle of the United States’ greatest sunken treasure, according to the California Gold Marketing Group (CGMG).
"We have finished carefully examining and cataloging the $5, $10 and $20 gold Territorials we took possession of earlier this year that were retrieved from the SS Central America in 2014. It was exhilarating to see these gold coins created by major assayers from the height of the Gold Rush: Humbert; Kellogg; Moffat; Wass Molitor; and the U.S. Assay Office," said CGMG Managing Partner Dwight Manley.
"There are an unprecedented fifty Kellogg & Co. $20 coins, including two monumentally rare, uncirculated coins. Ten of those 50 were found together in a pile with other coins on the Atlantic Ocean seabed off the coast of the Carolinas. Each of the 105 recovered Territorials is a remarkable part of American history and a tribute to the memory of the fabled ship, the passengers, crew and the era," stated Manley.
Professional Coin Grading Service (www.PCGS.com) now has certified these retrieved treasure coins.
Among the highlights of the SS Central America Territorial coins are:
The second finest known 1854 Kellogg $20, graded PCGS MS62+.
The second finest known 1855 Kellogg $20, PCGS MS61.
Two rare 1855 Wass Molitor Small Head variety $20 gold coins that are among the finest known with one graded PCGS AU58 and the other PCGS AU55.
A rare 1853 U.S. Assay Office $20 "884 THOUS" variety, PCGS AU55+.
"The very rare 884 THOUS variety, representing a gold content fineness of .884 purity, was struck for only eight days in February and March of 1853 before they switched to the more acceptable ‘900 THOUS’ standard," explained Bob Evans, the chief scientist on the 1980’s missions that first located and recovered a portion of the fabulous SS Central America treasure and then assisted with the 2014 recovery.
This rare 884 THOUS variety 1853 U.S. Assay Office $20, graded PCGS AU55+, is one of the Territorial gold coins recovered from the SS Central America. Photo credit: Professional Coin Grading Service www.PCGS.com.
Evans is the curator of the treasure.
"We also found five 1853 Moffat & Co. $20s," Evans revealed. "It was really exciting to locate these because we didn’t recovery any Moffat $20s during any of the earlier expeditions."
One 1852 Wass Molitor $5 Small Head variety gold coin was counterstamped, "W.W.LIGHT/DENTIST," by a Sacramento, California dentist.
A Small Head variety 1852 Wass Molitor $5 gold coin, with a counterstamp advertising Sacramento dentist W.W. Light, is among the 105 California Gold Rush Territorial coins recovered during the last expedition to the fabled Ship of Gold, the SS Central America. Photo credit: Professional Coin Grading Service www.PCGS.com.
"It’s pretty cool!," exclaimed Evans. "It’s graded PCGS VF30. It apparently had years of use in the goldfields and must have stories to tell!"
Here is a listing from CGMG of the 105 Territorials from the latest "Ship of Gold" recovery.
$20 denomination (total of 77 coins):
1854 Kellogg & Co. (26 coins)
1855 Kellogg & Co. (24)
1853 Moffat & Co. (5)
1853 US Assay Office 884 THOUS (1)
1853 US Assay Office 900 THOUS (19)
1855 Wass Molitor & Co. Small Head (2)
$10 denomination (13 coins):
1849 Moffat & Co. TEN DOL. (1)
1849 Moffat & Co. TEN D. (2)
1852/1 Humbert (1)
1852 Humbert (1)
1852 US Assay Office ( 3)
1853 US Assay Office 900 THOUS (1)
1852 Wass Molitor & Co. Small Head (1)
1852 Wass Molitor & Co. Large Head (2)
1855 Wass Molitor & Co. (1)
$5 denomination (15 coins):
1849 Moffat & Co. (11)
1850 Moffat & Co. (2)
1852 Wass Molitor & Co. Small Head (2)
A complete inventory of U.S. and world coins and assayers’ ingots recovered in 2014 will be listed in an upcoming book, America’s Greatest Treasure Ship: The SS Central America, The Second Journey, by Q. David Bowers and Manley. It will be published by the California Gold Marketing Group later this year.
The SS Central America was a 280-foot long, three-masted side-wheel steamship carrying tons of California gold that had been shipped from San Francisco to Panama when she sank in a September 1857 hurricane during a voyage from Aspinwall (now Colón), Panama to New York City. The loss of the gold cargo was a major factor in the economically devastating financial panic of 1857 in the United States.
The California Gold Marketing Group LLC of Brea, California acquired the 2014 treasure from Ira Owen Kane, Receiver for Recovery Limited Partnership and Columbus Exploration, LLC in a court-approved transaction in November 2017. In 1999, the group acquired all of the available treasure that was recovered in the 1980s.
http://www.coinnews.net/2018/07/09/ss-central-america-treasure-includes-rare-territorial-gold-coins/
Comments
Cool counterstamped piece.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
The countermark is cool, but on a territorial gold piece? Double cool. Is it okay to spend thousands of dollars on something that doesn't fit into any of your sets, but that you think is really awesome?
Nice!
Great historical stuff. Imagine a dental visit in 1852. Not a pleasant experience I would think.
Territorials are quite difficult to grade but PCGS was overly generous with these IMHO.
Absolutely, to bad it will go for wayyyy more
A $50 slug is a dream of mine
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
Wow, absolutely "amazing" !!!
That is really outrageous stuff !
"There are an unprecedented fifty Kellogg & Co. $20 coins"
--Severian the Lame
The recovery of these pieces is an amazing story in itself.... and the gold coins will become collectors prized possessions for eons to come......Cheers, RickO
The ship acted like a time capsule here, saving these pieces from the melting pot that so much of the pioneer gold found. Really great stuff!
It's nice to see these coins brought back to the surface. Pretty cool pieces!
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I just went through the Coinfacts pictures of all these coins and they don’t look very attractive. Whereas the mint state U.S. $20’s look beautiful, most of these look very processed. I think it’s mostly because they are circulated, and partially because they’re pictured next to other examples with crust/toning intact. Many have a greenish tint to them, maybe due to the specific mix of alloy used and underwater storage?
Have they started to sell any of these new SSCA coins without stock photos?
CN eBay
All of my collection is in a safe deposit box!
Very ,very cool! But no $50's this time?
i like the 1854 $20 gold
Superb California Fractional Gold Coins Discovered Among SS Central America Treasure
By CoinWeek
1853 50c BG302 Peacock PCGS MS64 – A rare Peacock variety 50 cent gold coin (BG-302), graded PCGS MS64, was among the 112 historic California fractional gold coins treasue recovered in the last sunken treasure expedition to the SS Central America. Photo credit: Professional Coin Grading Service www.PCGS.com
1853 50c BG302 Peacock PCGS MS64 – A rare Peacock variety 50 cent gold coin (BG-302), graded PCGS MS64, was among the 112 historic California fractional gold coins treasue recovered in the last sunken treasure expedition to the SS Central America. Photo credit: Professional Coin Grading Service www.PCGS.com
An amazing grouping of extraordinary quality California fractional gold coins were recovered during the latest mission to the fabled “Ship of Gold”, the SS Central America, that sank in 1857 on a voyage from Panama to New York City, according to the California Gold Marketing Group (CGMG) of Brea, California. Many of the coins are now the finest known.
“A total of 112 privately-minted, California Gold Rush fractional coins in denominations of 25 cents, 50 cents and $1 were retrieved from the Atlantic Ocean, and an unprecedented 54 of them now have been designated prooflike by Professional Coin Grading Service,” revealed Dwight Manley, CGMG managing partner.
One of the superb sunken treasure 50-cent fractional coins was graded PCGS MS68+PL.
“This is the finest known group of its kind in history. The condition of these coins is unrivaled, and for the first time ever PCGS has designated dozens as prooflike. It’s a true time capsule!,” exclaimed Manley. “More than 50 of the coins are finer than the previously known fractionals of their respective variety.”
The California fractionals were among more than 3,000 go.ld coins recovered in 2014 from SS Central America but only recently examined in detail, cataloged by Breen-Gillio reference numbers and graded.
“In 2014, when we first saw these coins lying in the shipwreck’s debris field, I realized how it illustrated the importance of California fractional gold in the day-to-day commerce of 1857 California. For instance, 11 of these delightful little coins were mingled within one remarkable jumble of 264 pieces of gold currency: 236 U.S. gold coins of every denomination and 17 foreign gold coins,” said Bob Evans. He was the chief scientist on the 1980s missions that first located and recovered a portion of the fabulous SS Central America treasure and then assisted with the 2014 recovery.
“As I curated these fabulous wonders under the microscope I was struck by both the crudeness of their manufacture and by the remarkable state of preservation, many of them looking as if a San Francisco jeweler had minted them yesterday. The dozens of prooflike specimens are truly stunning!,” Evans added.
Highlights of the discoveries include:
1856 25 cents (BG-111), graded PCGS MS68PL, and another of this variety is graded PCGS MS67+PL and two others are PCGS MS67PL;
No date 25 cents (BG-224), PCGS MS66PL;
1853 50 cents (BG-302), the rare “Peacock” design on the reverse, PCGS MS64;
1856 50 cents (BG-307), PCGS MS66PL;
1856 50 cents (BG-311), PCGS MS68+PL, and two others of this variety are MS67PL;
1856 50 cents (BG-434), MS67+PL, and second one of this variety is PCGS MS67PL;
1855 $1 (BG-533), PCGS MS64PL.
Each of the PCGS-certified fractional gold coins now is encapsulated in specially-produced and labeled holders that contain a pinch of recovered SS Central America gold dust in a separate compartment. The insert label includes a statement of authenticity hand-signed by Evans.
“The SS Central America treasure is literally a historic and financial time machine, taking you back to the minds of the public during the California Gold Rush,” stated PCGS Co-Founder and Collectors Universe President David Hall.
“At one point as I looked at all of the fractional gold coins together it was almost a startling out of body experience for me. I imaged myself in a restaurant or a bar in 1857 as I wondered what a steak and beer would cost back then? Would I have to give them a 50-cent gold piece or a $1 gold piece? It was like being there in 1857,” recalled Hall.
In the coming weeks, additional highlights of the recently examined and certified treasure will be revealed. A complete inventory of U.S. and world coins and assayers’ ingots recovered in 2014 will be listed in an upcoming book, America’s Greatest Treasure Ship: The SS Central America, The Second Journey, by Q. David Bowers and Manley. It will be published by the California Gold Marketing Group later this year.
The SS Central America was a 280-foot long, three-masted side-wheel steamship carrying tons of California gold that had been shipped from San Francisco to Panama when she sank in a September 1857 hurricane during a voyage from Aspinwall (now Colón), Panama to New York City. The loss of the gold cargo was a major factor in the economically devastating financial panic of 1857 in the United States.
The California Gold Marketing Group LLC of Brea, California acquired the 2014 treasure from Ira Owen Kane, Receiver for Recovery Limited Partnership and Columbus Exploration, LLC in a court-approved transaction in November 2017. In 1999, the group acquired all of the available treasure that was recovered in the 1980s.
https://coinweek.com/coins/treasure-2/superb-california-fractional-gold-coins-discovered-aboard-ss-central-america-treasure/
Wow these are really nice looking! More time capsule material.
Old Thread Update
Just ran across this again and wanted to bump this for awesomeness