1856 California Gold: Real/Fake/What Is It?

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Author	Replies: 6 / Views: 8,388
njnumis Valued Member United States 70 Posts	Posted 07/16/2015 12:45 am Hi, thanks in advance for any help, it's much appreciated! I picked this up on ebay so I'm skeptical if it's even real, but can't find any decent sites which list all possible California gold coins, since apparently there were hundreds and they weren't officially produced by any mint. To make matters worse, I read about a number of reproductions and fakes that exist. So can anyone tell me what this is? It's just under 1/2 inch around, but I don't even know what the face value is supposed to be, so I can't seem to google any info on this obscure coin. Report this Post to the Staff

nalaberong Pillar of the Community Canada 2805 Posts	Posted 07/16/2015 02:16 am This looks more like brass than gold, and the diework is terrible - but terrible in a modern way. Most likely, it's a fake. Report this Post to the Staff
SilverStackerKid Pillar of the Community United States 6478 Posts	Posted 07/16/2015 02:58 am I really hope you did not take a hard hit on this. Report this Post to the Staff
denco7 Pillar of the Community United States 2543 Posts	Posted 07/16/2015 05:08 am It is a brass tourist token, possibly thinly gold plated. All real california gold has a denomination on it. Report this Post to the Staff
Circus Pillar of the Community United States 3079 Posts	Posted 07/16/2015 05:20 am There are a number of styles of these some sold in sets. Here you go all you might not want to know. http://proxiblog.org/2012/04/24/cal...ca-and-fake/ Report this Post to the Staff
biokemist6 Bedrock of the Community United States 12437 Posts	Posted 07/16/2015 12:10 pm Two basic rules of thumb for California fractional gold- if it has a bear and no denomination, it is a reproduction/fantasy. Some of the repros are low karat gold but most of them are just gold-plated brass/bronze. Report this Post to the Staff
njnumis Valued Member United States 70 Posts	Posted 07/16/2015 2:59 pm Thanks for the info guys! Of the small research I was able to do I was starting to fear it was fake already, so you've definitely helped convince me it's a fake. I didn't pay much for it, which really should have made me question it more in the first place! Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 6 / Views: 8,388

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