Augustus Humbert's provisional operation circulated huge octagonal ingots of this type for a few years during the early 1850s. Political pressures in Washington prevented Humbert's operation from striking anything lower than a fifty for the first two years in 1852, a reorganized operation received the right to strike twenties and tens as well.
Cumbersome or not, the enormous "slugs" of 1851-52 did pass as money and may have been the principle accepted currency in California at the time. Their gold content was good, and their finish (they were struck by Moffat & Co., which eventually became the nucleus of the San Francisco branch of the United States Mint) was excellent, if massive.
