Do you have the price guide by Walter Breen and Ron Gillio on California gold? Most are identified by B&G number. I understand the "golden age" a subset of the wider golden age in California ran for about five years from 1849 to 1854. Things began to gentrify after that. California fractional gold in $1.00, 50 cents and 25 cent denominations were unofficial coins of necessity to help standardize a "pinch of gold dust." Folks would secretly gum or wet their fingers before pinching to get a few extra cents worth on each transaction. Jewelers and refiners began to issue fractional gold, always with a date and denomination in "dollars." Silver coins were considered mean and beneath most folks and wouldn't buy much. Copper coins wouldn't buy anything at all. Now the same U.S. Treasury enforcers that put a stop to unofficial Civil War Tokens in the East, circa 1864, moved west by 1871 to put a stop to gold token issuers. Visitors from back east wanted to take gold samples home to show off, so that issuers didn't exactly stop but only dropped the word "dollars" to comply with the law around 1873 or so. If gold tokens are are missing both date and the word dollars, they are for the tourist trade and not real interesting. By 1871 B&G types numbers run about one thousand different true California gold token types. Better images include likenesses of genuine gold coins from back east such as the gold dollar, not minted in San Francisco, and California State seal iconography since 1850 when it became a state. The San Francisco U.S. Branch Mint opened in 1854 to begin to keep up with the booming commerce out west but focused on large denomination coins. I have an legitimate 1854-S Eagle (first year of issue) and a B&G California gold half dollar from 1871, type number in the 900s, to bracket the era. Will look at your posts in the other category with coin images. This is a neat and underappreciated collecting field for us back east.
Posted 02/20/2015 6:31 pm
