\u201cThis city was built around the pursuit of gold,\u201dWitter Gold CEO and owner Seth Chandler told KTVU<\/a>. \u201cWe wanted to create something that brings that spirit back. Something real, tangible, and rooted in San Francisco\u2019s history.\u201d<\/p>\n Humans have lived in the region now known as San Francisco for over 5,000 years. European colonization of the area began when the Spanish during the late-18th century, who eventually ceded the territory to Mexico in 1821. Following the Mexican-American War, the United States annexed all of present-day California and Nevada, as well as portions of Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. Although millions of people live in San Francisco today, less than 470 residents called it home on the eve of the California gold rush in 1847. By 1849, that number had exploded to over 25,000 newly settled treasure seekers.<\/p>\n The grand prize offered by Witter Coin is a rare example of what\u2019s known as an 1851 Humbert \u201cSlug.\u201d<\/a> The octagonal piece is technically not U.S. currency, but an ingot minted by the official United States Assay Office of Gold and its assayer Augustus Humbert. Emblazoned with a bald eagle standing on top of a boulder, the $50 slug contained 2.5 ounces of gold, making it one of the largest currencies of its kind.<\/p>\n
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