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 Replies: 11 / Views: 1,533 |
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New Member
United States
9 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
Beware of 'jeweler's copies of these coins - sometimes in good gold.
Take a good photographic reference book with you, and use it at the time of purchase for visual comparison purposes.
Or buy on approval, and have it assessed professionally with the guarantee of return if proven false.
I personally wouldn't know for sure what I was buying, and it's a safe bet the the seller doesn't know what he is selling, either.
On the other hand I hand, I am happy to buy (most probably) suspected fakes of these, for only a dollar or so, for my own education and experience. I have a couple of similar dud coins in my 'black' collection already.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3848 Posts |
Cool find! I don't know much about this coin. Because it didn't have a denomination, I was thinking it could be some sort of token. Doing a quick dive into the internet, I found this website that has a list of varieties and descriptions of coins like yours. http://www.calgoldcoin.com/oldhtml/wreath4e.htmIncluding "wreath" in the google search help attribute it's type. Suffering from bust half fever. Want to learn how to attribute early half dollars by die variety? Click Here: http://goccf.com/t/434955Shoot me a PM if you are looking to sell bust halves. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1143 Posts |
I don't believe that is a real Cal gold piece but a charm made to look like one.
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Moderator
 United States
56855 Posts |
First you need to remove the coin from the 2x2 holder. Take new photos and properly crop and rotate them and then post the pics. Weight? Diameter? When you put it in a new 2x2,make sure to flatten the staples. John1  |
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Moderator
United States
34393 Posts |
"If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
If you remove the coin from the holder and show larger pics right-side up we may be able to help further.  to the CCF! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2869 Posts |
The weight would be helpful.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4415 Posts |
to the CCF, Kelly. IMHO, there exists a very slim possibility that your piece is genuine or, for that matter, even gold. Millions of reproductions, typically novelty items for sale to tourists, have been produced over the past sixty years. Here's a website that discusses these .... https://proxiblog.org/2012/04/24/ca...ca-and-fake/ Getting back to your piece, a local jeweler could first test it to see if it is gold. Then, if it tests positive, a local coin dealer could likely help you get it certified. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3342 Posts |
It's a token. As sel says, it might be worth a dollar, unless there's some gold content. No denomination marking, rim looks wrong, and genuine Indian Head fractionals are very uncommon.. It might be loosely based on this 1868 1/4 dollar. The entire BG index of California fractionals lists only one 1858 coin, and it's a Liberty Head. https://www.PCGS.com/coinfacts/coin...bg-889/10750"Two minutes ago I would have sold my chances for a tired dime." Fred Astaire
Edited by thq
06/26/2021 4:29 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4233 Posts |
The overall design matches this one, 1858, listed on NGC as "1858-DATED CAL. GOLD INDIAN - WREATH #4a ROUND, 11.8mm TOKEN" https://coins.ha.com/itm/california...bnail-071515and on NGC https://www.NGCcoin.com/certlookup/4909347-010/64/I'm bored so here are images to compare.   The 11.8mm diameter converts to .46", and the OP coin appears to be .375" (3/8"), so that's a red flag. Images are too poor to evaluate further. There's so much fake "California gold" out there that I'd have to be suspicious of finding one at a yard sale. The HA example sold for $104 in 2019 so it's not super valuable regardless. How much was paid? Edit: "Sutter's CA" written on the holder sounds like a scam - how on earth would anybody know the gold came from the original 1848 gold rush strike? Edited by kbbpll
06/26/2021 6:49 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3342 Posts |
Sutter Creek CA is full of souvenir shops. They've been selling stuff like this to tourists in the California gold rush towns for a century. A real one MIGHT show up in a yard sale, but it's a specialist's hobby with a handful of avid collectors. This one is way too far off to be of interest. If you're ever in Placerville, visit the Gold Bug mine. It was an amateur effort which produced little if any gold but it's neat to walk into the tunnel they dug into a hillside. https://www.goldbugpark.org/visitor-info/history/The tokens are made much more perfectly than the hand-struck originals. As far as size goes, my BG-415 round half dollar is 11.1 mm in diameter. A 3/8" diameter token (9.5 mm) is close to the quarter dollar size. Edit to add link to Mike Locke's site. Mike trades in both tokens and the original fractionals. The tokens show up near the end of his price list, and they sell for more than a dollar. kelly619's token is not there, but there are similar 1/4 dollar-sized pieces. http://www.calgoldcoin.com"Two minutes ago I would have sold my chances for a tired dime." Fred Astaire
Edited by thq
06/26/2021 11:51 pm
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Replies: 11 / Views: 1,533 |
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Posted 06/26/2021 12:37 am
