Q.David Bowers
Apparently each ingot was cast, and then it was dressed by hitting the sides with a hammer. Large bars were apparently subdivided into several smaller ingots. A November 20, 1868, article in the Alta California gave the recollections of a pioneer:
Nineteen years ... ago I gazed into the Assay Office of Fred Kohler, situated on the south side of Clay Street, watching for the first time the process of converting gold dust into bats, and the chipping of the bars into $50 ingots. "Slugs" was the name given them. The "bankers," Monte, Faro, and others, [a reference to gambling establishments], being short of coin, and having plenty of dust, had it converted into slugs of that denomination, which they circulated as freely as any other coin, the stamp of the assayer in all cases being taken at its true value. Wass, Molitor & Co., Moffat & Co., an assayer at San Jose, and others of Mormon vintage, circulated as late as 1852, when they finally disappeared, the octagon slug taking their place ... the actual value of Kohler's slugs being $52 at the Philadelphia Mint.
The preceding contained a reference to assays performed at the Philadelphia Mint which showed that there was some variation in Kohler's work, and on the average his ingots were worth about 1 % to 11/2 0/0 more than the value stamped on them.
Certain business establishments refused to accept the State Assay Office ingots, preferring to weigh gold dust or bullion themselves in order to make an additional profit later when the raw metal was sold. On July 15, 1850, the Sacramento Daily Transcript commented on this practice: But the bankers and others in San Francisco interested in keeping gold below its real worth to further their own ends were not to be so easily checked in their lucrative operation. Previous to the appointment of the Assayer they called a public meeting, formed an association, and by combined efforts succeeded in defeating the good end which the law aimed to secure. Strange to say, that up to this time the people-merchants, miners, mechanics, laborers-have per-mitted this combination to hold the sway, decrying the value of the ingots, refuse to receive them at their par value, and thus prevent their general circulation and the good results which would necessarily have followed ....
First, then, the miner parts with his gold at $16 the ounce. If he has 50 ounces it nets him in gold coin $800; but suppose ingots are circulated at their par value, as they should be, the miner then takes his 50 ounces to the assayer's, where he pays for assaying it, say $1 per ounce and it yields him in ingots, after the expense is paid, $17 per ounce. Fifty ounces at $17-$850-making a difference of over 6 percent in his favor.
But a still greater saving might be effected on quicksilver gold than 6 or even 8 percent. Quicksilver gold brings only $14 per ounce. Does the miner and do the people generally know that this gold is worth more intrinsically than any other? If they do not, the Assayer will tell them so. The particles of gold taken up by the quicksilver are doubly re-fined and pure, and those who ship it to the States make the enormous profit of from $4 to $5 on every ounce shipped, all of which comes out of the pocket of the miner and laborer. The question may be now asked, what is the true value of the ingot, and it will probably surprise some of our readers to be informed that these ingots which are refused by this combination are worth more than American gold coin and yet such is the case; every ingot stamped $37 will realize $40 in gold coin at the United States Mint ... shall the whole community suffer in order that those who are engaged in this gold shipping business may be aggrandized? We say emphatically No! Let us receive the ingots.
Edgar H. Adams quotes Almarin B. Paul, a California pioneer: The first fifty-dollar gold piece was made at the State Assay Office in Sacramento City, located on Third Street, near J, and if my memory is correct, in June or July, 1850. John Bigler, afterward Governor of California, was chief of this office, and Milton S. Latham, afterward a United States Senator, was Bigler's first assistant. Mr. Latham brought over and showed to me a fifty-dollar piece which he said was the first piece made about this time, when I was doing a mercantile business near the office, on J Street.
Apparently quite a few ingots were issued at Sacramento, for the August 8, 1850 issue of the Sacramento Daily Transcript notes that as of that time 161 depositors had submitted gold worth $59,028.80 at $15 per ounce or, using the Mint standard as a valuation, $66,596.84.
When the United States Assay Office began operations in San Francisco early in 1851, the state assay office was discontinued. After that time Frederick Kohler conducted his own private assay office. The Daily Alta California, issue of July 28, 1853, contained a typical advertisement: "UNITED STATES ASSAY OFFICE. Frederick D. Kohler, United States Assayer. Office at Wass, Molitor & Co., Merchant Street, San Francisco.'
It is believed that Kohler issued ingots up to the value of $150. Of the numerous ingots once issued at Sacramento, just two examples, one each of the $36.55 and $47.71 values, are known today.
In the early 1870s the Spier Collection, consisting of over 10,000 coins of the world, was kept in the vaults of the Bank of California, which pronounced the collection as "The best and most valuable in existence." Spier had an intense interest in gold issues of California and was among the first to assemble a collection of them. Around 1877 these passed to the Society of California Pioneers. Exhibited at the San Francisco Mint, the Society's collection was examined by Farran Zerbe in 1905, who reported to the numismatic fraternity the existence of the Kohler $50 slug which formed a part of the group. A decade later this $50 piece and-other coins from the Society of California Pioneers became the property of Fred L. Huddart. Subsequently, the $50 piece was acquired by John Work Garrett. The ingot is considered especially significant as it is the earliest California gold piece bearing this denomination, a value which was later to become famous when Augustus Humbert produced them in large quantities for the United States Assay Office of Gold.
More Private Coins Appear
Despite the disrepute with which privately issued gold coins were held by the public, two new firms were added to the roster of coiners in 1850: Baldwin & Co. and Dubosq & Co.
On April 8, 1850 the State Legislature effectively ended most private coinage by passing an act, the main provision of which is quoted.
Any person who shall stamp or impress, or shall cause to be stamped or impressed, upon any piece of gold less than four ounces Troy weight, whether pure or alloyed, any figures, letters, or marks, indicating or purporting to indicate its weight, fineness, or value, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished as provided in the preceeding section.