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 Replies: 19 / Views: 10,868 |
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Valued Member
United States
74 Posts |
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Valued Member
United States
152 Posts |
I don't know much about gold coins so I can't help you with this. Sorry  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
865 Posts |
Do you have the weights? So far what I'm seeing looks legit but you have to be really careful with these.
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Valued Member
 United States
74 Posts |
I'll weigh them and post the weights tomorrow.
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Rest in Peace
10197 Posts |
On #1, think its a fake, the denticle's don't look right and the date is all chewed up. The California's were know for inaccuracies, but...looks like a coated/cast copy.
#2 looks more promising, but, again think its fake. Don't like looks of the stars on either...they're misshapen, globby...to me signs of a possible faker.
Yyea, need weights, definite CU's there's no wear/loss of weight here!
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
I would imagine that there as been a corpus published on California fractional gold, with clear diagnostic pictures of all known genuine types.
Krause has published guides on this subject, such as in the
U.S. Coin Digest,
which are reasonably helpful in general terms.
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Valued Member
United States
127 Posts |
Number 1 is a LEE 45B, and looks good. Number 2 is a gold charm, possibly modern made. Note it has no denomination.
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Rest in Peace
10197 Posts |
Reading RedBook @ California gold coins, no mention of hexagonal 1/4 D, only 1/2D. It did say that early coins may have 85% of face value in gold, decreasing over time to just being gold plated. Also, after the 1883 Coinage Act, both coins and non demonanatial tokens could be made, some even backdating to the 1850's or 1860's. Please note: NO hexagonal 1/4 D coin! Fairly sure these are copies, a lot other around. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
The RedBook should not be used to authenticate Cal Gold because your statement about no genuine hexagonal quarter dollar gold is quite incorrect. It is a good general reference but should never be used for specialties. Admittedly, I am not an expert on Cal Gold but just a few minutes of searching found BG-975 to be the best match. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
589 Posts |
I agree with the BG-975 or also known as the Lee 45B in the first coin as being the best match. 1874 low date. 7th star being small. from period two(1858-1882) Rarity 3 .13g 9.5 to 9.6mm coin two is a charm. http://www.calgoldcoin.com/look under California token guide. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4409 Posts |
Indeed there have been books published on California fractional gold coins. The "Bible" is the Breen/Gillio California Pioneer Fractional Gold which is hard to come by and expensive.
Doering published a book on these in 1982; Ed M. Lee published a book on these. R H Burnie's book was published in 1955.
I own none of these books. I am sharing this information in case anyone was wondering what reference books covers this area.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3343 Posts |
The closest match I see to the first one is BG-875, but not perfect. I'd guess it to be a $100-200 coin to a token collector if authentic. http://www.PCGScoinfacts.com/Coin/Detail/10736You'd be best off submitting it to a grading service. Mike Locke might give you an opinion based on your photos too. "Two minutes ago I would have sold my chances for a tired dime." Fred Astaire
Edited by thq
03/11/2017 07:57 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
865 Posts |
OP, did you get the weights or did I skip them? I think the first coin has been established as BG-975 (that looks good to me too). Someone mentioned the RedBook,that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the iceberg that is California gold. That would be like trying to attribute a VAM with the RedBook. It's just not possible |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3343 Posts |
On his tokens page Mike shows 2 types of the 1857 hexagonal wreath. Yours matches his 4b type. http://www.calgoldcoin.comI'm still not finding any reference to a BG-975 coin. Link? "Two minutes ago I would have sold my chances for a tired dime." Fred Astaire
Edited by thq
03/13/2017 7:23 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12057 Posts |
1874 octagonals in the 1/4 denomination are almost all Liberty-type heads except for BG-795, which is what your first coin is. I would grade it mid AU.
Your 2nd is a token, and would have been made as a souvenir or by a jeweler. The 1857 date helps: Only two actual denominated pieces are dated 1857, the first extremely rare (a 1-of-1 1857 $1), the second much less so, a 1/4 dollar denominated octagonal that was actually struck in the early 1900s in New York, using the Liberty-type head.
Actual gold content ranged from nil (no gold) to 6-7kt to 14kt, sometimes approaching 22kt in early-mid 1850s; jeweler copies fall within that range as well.
Member ANA - EAC - TNA - SSDC - CCT #890 "Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done." -- Louis D. Brandeis Edited by paralyse
03/13/2017 11:24 pm
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New Member
United States
24 Posts |
inherited some coins from my dad, found this. Ive been searching around and I still don't understand these, are they coins or tokens, are they gold or not etc etc. I found this thread in google search while researching, thus why I'm reviving it. Its hard to take photos of such a small item, this thing is tiny.  
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Replies: 19 / Views: 10,868 |
Posted 03/10/2017 2:19 pm
