What in the world is this????

I went to an estate auction last week end. There was a WWI medal in a beat up black box and I felt sad that the family did not want it, so I decided to rescue it and bought the black box with the medal in it for $17.00. There were several 3 cent stamps in there and the 1917 WWI medal and a very small hexagon shaped disk. On closer inspection with a magnifying glass, it had an Indian head in a chiefs bonnet on one side and on the other it said California Gold with a date of 1849 and something that resembles a wolf on the back. It is about the size of a pencil eraser. just wondering if anyone knows what this thing is? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

my guess is a private gold coin from the California gold rush which started in 1849. might have 1/20th oz of Gold? I have no idea, lets wait for the experts.

In the meantime see if you can find it in the red book.

 

looks like California fraction gold. here's a book on them on Ebay. that reverse is throwing me off. link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/California-...990?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19f4b3cae6

 

not sure yours is real ??? here 1 with the date 1849 and denomination link: http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/18319299_1849-rare-museum-indian-head-california-gold-coin

 

It's in the Red Book, under Territorial Issues.

And yeah, it's either that or a fake.

Did you weigh it?

 

Lots of info here: http://www.calgoldcoin.com/

Its a little hard to navigate, but it told me that the fractional gold coin I bought was a modern Japanese fake and worth nothing, so I sent it back.

Good luck with your ID! Hope it's a "real" one (period, at least) and real gold. That reverse is probably a bear.

Rob

 

kinda cool looking coin

 

Pieces like this with a bear on the reverse and no actual denomination are 20th century replicas. Mostly they are plated brass, but sometimes gold too. I have seen a couple like yours in the past on ebay selling for $15-$20 and were described as 21kt gold. It should be 0.3 grams in weight.

 

This is what my red book says, dated 2007, under: California small-denomination gold: Beware of extremely common modern replicas ( often having a bear in the design ), which have little numismatic value.

 

This coin is a fake

 

anything with the bear, is fake

 

Josh,

If you ever open your own B&M, don't forget to put a sign in the window, "We buy fool's gold!"

Chris

 

Yes, but not all are ultra modern and common metal. There are vintage examples as well as ones that are made of [very little amounts of] solid gold. There are people out there that collect the older "bear" pieces and some have a bit of value.

 

Read your book, all bears are fake, sent it to pcgs, what do you think they will say, fake, is what they will say, also read post 12, fools gold

 

Dude, you're missing my point. Yes, they are all fake, but there are different kinds of fakes.

 

listen to what you saying, fake is fake, no other way to slice the pie

 

What is your opinion on people who collect contemporary counterfeits then?

Not that the piece posted here is that, just wondering.

 

As long as their not fools gold, I have collected lots of fakes, but they were made of real gold, that's ok with me

 

You are correct.

 

There are many contemporary counterfeits made of all types of stuff that are worth more than the real coin. The OP coin is not one of them.