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 Replies: 19 / Views: 3,291 |
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New Member
 United States
11 Posts |
Thanks everyone. That's what I thought.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2543 Posts |
I wouldn't write it off before posting pictures. You can describe it as you see it, but nothing is worth a good picture for determining exactly what you have. Many of these tokens were not real California Fractional gold, but many were still made of gold.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1566 Posts |
 Let the community have a look at it. |
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New Member
United States
11 Posts |
I'll try to get some pics up Sunday. It tested out at less than 10 ct. gold.
Thanks everyone!
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
Who cares if it's real?  |
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New Member
United States
11 Posts |
Here are a couple of photos, I hope.   |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2519 Posts |
The pictures in my catalogue are small and blurry but all the round indian heads (can't see well enough if the design is copied or totally different) look like they have "Dollar" in the wreath.
There is no round 1853 indian head gold 1/4 dollar, so it's a fantasy piece. Check it out though, it might turn out to be gold.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1531 Posts |
 I'm not sure how some people collect California gold, I personally think it is rather unattractive. But it's just my opinion, everyone's got one! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2543 Posts |
It is definitely a tourist token. Real California Fractional gold has a denomination on the reverse. And most certainly does not say "California" gold on it in place of a denomination. Most replica tourist tokens were made of brass. Some of the early century tokens were gold plated. And many of the contemporary tokens/replicas were not authentic California gold, but still made of gold. Your token most likely came from a set like THISEdited by denco7
01/03/2015 8:49 pm
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Pics are fine. California Gold is a fascinating branch of numismatics, from the original pieces themselves to the wonderful cacophony of counterfeits and fakes. I'll bet more people have taken more shots at faking California Gold than any other type. You could easily devote a whole collecting career to it. |
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Valued Member
United States
406 Posts |
Totally agree SuperDave. One trouble is that the standard reference to the series, the second edition of the Breen-Gillio book, is so expensive and hard to find. Wait a minute, let me check Amazon.com and see what I come up with. OK, got it. Hardcover, one "like new" from $400. Paperback, 9 used from $275. So far I have gotten along with just having the Jay Roe catalog. Best Regards,  George |
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New Member
United States
11 Posts |
I checked the Breen/Gillio book out from the ANA. It's clearly fake. The book has a nice flow chart in it that wipes out any hopes right away. There goes my birthday present from my wife. She bought it from a "trusted" vendor at the coin show in Las Vegas this December. Trust no one! |
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New Member
United States
29 Posts |
I have some of those, I THINK they were minted in around 1910 as sovenier pieces of the "wild west", they are worth around ten bucks.I also have, what I'm pretty sure is, one real one.  I see their selling my same kind of coin here... http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/7680950Edited by Coinman123
01/04/2015 11:58 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
589 Posts |
Quote:
One trouble is that the standard reference to the series, the second edition of the Breen-Gillio book, is so expensive and hard to find. http://www.worldcat.org/title/calif...rief_resultsUnfortunately, none of the three are in Michigan, so my local library couldn't request it. A library on the other side of the sate could for me for a $2 charge. But of course, seeing as how the copyright hasn't expired on either version, I couldn't legally scan either for anyone. So...the good news: there are three copies of the second edition in libraries in the United States; world cat shows you the ISBN numbers and the OCLC number, take them to your local library and see if they can inter-library loan the book for you. Some may charge a little fee for it, others may be free (my old library didn't start charging fees until 3 years ago) You just **might** be able to get the book and be able to review it for a short duration (which is better than nothing). If anyone is truly interested in California Gold, that is. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
As Longstrider says the ANA library has a copy and if you are a member you can borrow it of just the cost of media mail postage both ways. And the Jay Roe catalog is fairly extensive and probably easier to obtain. (Now if I could just remember where my copy is.) Edited by Conder101
01/05/2015 11:01 am
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Posted 01/02/2015 5:16 pm
