3 California Gold Tokens

Howdy fellow coin peeps,

One of my recent Heritage Auction wins was a group of 3 California Gold Tokens. I cannot tell you much about them but I should be hearing from Mike Locke overnight and he'll have them ID'd, although the 1850 is unknown to him. He and I discussed them after I won the auction but the Heritage pics weren't good enough to properly determine what they are and the 1850 didn't have a reverse pic.

Once Mike replies, I'll post what he says. :bow:








I really love the 1849, with all of the die cracks on the reverse. I've never seen so many die cracks on such a tiny coin. :kewl:

Ribbit

Ps: For those of you that don't know much about California Gold Fractionals, Mike Locke's website is an awesome reference site, loaded with information. :bow:

http://www.calgoldcoin.com/

Pps: For those that don't know it, California Gold Fractionals/Tokens were usually not minted the same year as the date on the token. Many were minted in the early 1900's and some were minted even later. Replicas are still being minted today but a large group were minted in the 1970's. I believe the three on this post are from the early 1900's but like I said earlier, I really don't know and will have to wait for Mike to fill me in on all of that.

 

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Great Buy Toad.:thumb:
They sure look cool:thumb:
Thanks for the reference link too:thumb:

 

I got a response from Mike today:

Wreath10e Round 1/2 1849 Indian #1.
&
Wreath10e Oct 1/4 1860 Indian #1.

If a piece does not have DOLLAR or some abbreviation thereof, it is not in BG. Although some pieces with such inscriptions are not in BG, all pieces in BG have such inscriptions. None of the pieces that you bought have such an inscription.

Wreath10e is a catch all category for immitations of Nathan Joseph's post-1906 wreath with center star design. Presumably these were made after Joseph's tokens became well known.

As to the 1850, he will fill me in on it after he figures out what it is. He bought it from me, since it's somewhat an unknown and he wants it for his collection. Mike's been a good friend and I don't mind selling it to him since I don't really collect these, I just dabble in them.

Ribbit ​

 

Okay - what is BG? Nice tokens by the way.

 

It's the same as Newcomb (N) or Sheldon (S) or Overton (O). It's whoever the person was that took the time to catalog these and attribute them but I don't know who BG is.

Look on Mike's site under the Denominated California Gold guide, for the list of BG's.

Ribbit

 

Ps: Just in case Mike's words confused anyone, what he is talking about is denominations. The ones that are BG attributed have denominations on them (1/4 - 1/2 - 25 cents - 50 cents - etc...). The ones I got don't have a denomination on them, although they are known for what denomination they are, which is shown by how Mike attributed the 1849 & 1860. The 1850 is a 1/2 dollar, which I forgot to say.

Ribbit

 

Cool stuff Toad , about how heavy is one of them ?
rzage

 

My digital scale only weighs in tenths and the 1850 weighed in at a whopping 0.3 grams. So it's somewhere in that neighborhood.

Ribbit

Ps: The 1850 is a 50 cent piece. I haven't weighed the 25 cent piece yet.

 

I believe BG refers to the book on California fractional gold by Walter Breen and Ronald Gillio
(copy for sale on ebay now for 150.00)

 

B = Breen
G = Gillio

I was wondering if Breen was involved since Mike is constantly quoting him.

Thanks Charles! :thumb:

Ribbit

 

Hmmm... I couldn't find it. Could you post a link ?

I'm really interested in California fractionals, but I've stayed away for several reasons. Mainly, it's more difficult to find info. But it's even more important to be "in the know" with these because there are so many phonies.

It's easier to fool folks with counterfeits since the real ones are so crudely made and so few collectors have expertise.

"Buy the book before the coin" makes more sense than ever !

 

Found it...

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-California-...5582997QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

 

thanks, I lost the link, I just did a search on "Breen"

 

Yep! But they are still collectable by the CGF Collectors. They also don't demand the premium prices so many of the BG's do. :bow: They can usually be had for less than fifty bucks and the more common ones for around 20 bucks and they are gold, not gold plated, so gold collectors like them too.

I've been watching prices and some of the BG's go for an outrageous price so these types won't break the bank and for type collectors, it's a cheap way to fill a hole.

Ribbit

Ps: Mike has already bought the 1850 off me, since he doesn't have it, and he has the other 2 already. He will add the 1850 to his guide (someday) so look for it to show up.

 

BTW - to show how small and thin these are, I took a couple of pics with the 1849 50 cent token along with a 1852 3 cent silver coin:






Ribbit

 

I also found this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/California-Pion...ryZ39473QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Ribbit

 

Nice gold tokens.

 

Here are five more I got in today:






From left to right they are three 1/4 dollars, one 1/2 dollar, and one 1 dollar.

Ribbit

 

Toad:
Nice pieces, good luck on the attribution.