Heritage Auctions held an auction of US Territorial Gold and early colonial coins in Chicago on October 11-14. It included a Kellogg & Co. $50 California gold coin considered the “king” of territorial gold coins.

Pre-Revolutionary colonial coins from New England, Virginia, and New Jersey sold in a range of $8,400 for a 1659 XF45 Lord Baltimore silver sixpence to a VF35 1723 Rosa Americana copper halfpenny at $432.

Discontinued coins like half cents and a variety of 18th and early 19th century US coins were also offered. Two 1787 “Fugio” copper cents, the predecessor of today’s one-cent coins, sold for $1,560 each, one graded MS61 and the other XF40. A lower-graded VF30 example brought $840.

Several rare 25¢ and 50¢ fractional dollar California gold coins brought prices from a few hundred dollars up to $1,920 for an Indian Head round 50¢ piece.

But the star of the show was the 1855 $50 Kellogg & Co California gold piece. The roughly three-ounce gold coin, rated PR63 by the Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC), sold for $444,000, shattering the previous record by over $300,000. Only a handful of these coins were struck, probably as proofs to promote the Kellogg mint, and fourteen are thought to survive.

A PR64 “cameo” proof of the $50 Kellogg coin sold for $763,750 at auction in 2014.

An 1851 LE Humbert $50 gold coin, MS63, brought $360,000, also a record for that issue.

Collecting Territorial Coins

As you can see from the prices, collecting colonial and California gold coins is not for the timid. But it’s a fascinating subject, even if you aren’t a buyer. You can learn more about California Gold Coins and other US and colonial coins on the PCGS Coin Facts website.