This coin has been in my family for years and was collected by my grandmother. Would like to get any information on it, especially if anyone would care to give it their grade/opinion. I am considering selling it and wonder if I should have it professionally graded first and with whom? PGCS:
I'm really sorry, but this coin looks suspicious to me, especially on the reverse. I'm no expert on gold coins, but something just isn't right with it. Could you possibly weigh it?
There is that possibility, unfortunately I can only weigh in grams. I'm taking it to a local coin shop tomorrow to have them look at it, so I should at least have the weight then.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I must say this coin is not genuine. It's a long story, but this coin isn't even close. For one thing, the many varieties of Period Two (1858-1882) gold fractional quarter dollars included the word "DOLLAR" in the denomination. There are very few exceptions, and this isn't one of them. Also... the production of the OP coin is actually too good. Genuine Cal Fractions were not produced by the Mint; they were produced mostly by jewelers with little coining skill, no coining experience, and very primitive tools and conditions. The dies were very crude, and the coins reflect that. The coin in the OP is a relatively modern trinket. Here's a link to a genuine BG-701 in a recent auction : http://coins.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=1159&lotNo=9210
I had considered that, although certainly it is very disappointing, the collection it came from had another Chinese coin that also turned out to be a caste replica/fake as well. Even as a noob, it certainly looked too good compared to the others I've seen. Thanks for the information, regardless of how it turned out.
I believe there is only one variety of California fractional that does not have a denomination expressed on it in the form of D, Dol, dollar etc and there are NO genuine pieces that depict the "bear" creature.
