Hi All, Here is my 1854 1/4 CA gold. I view this one a little skeptically as on page 422 of the 2024 Red Book it says..."Beware of extremely common modern replicas (often having a bear in the design), which have little numismatic value." Mine has the bear on the reverse. I also have another fractional CA gold, also with the bear. What do you think - fake or not? If not, any idea as to value? Many thanks!
Yes, it’s a copy of fairly recent reproduction. The phrase that some people use is, “If you see a bear, beware!” The piece should also have denomination like “dol” or “dollar” not just a fraction.
yup yup see a bear beware. almost every one i've seen with a bear was a modern copy. This is my 54 1/4.. the 4th I bought and the 1st "real" one lol... real hard to pic out the fakes when they made with real gold
Hi - thank you for the quick replies - it is as I suspected. JB10000lakes - your eyes did not go wonky. I have a dark foam square with a raised circular depression in it - sort of like the top of a volcano. Generally, coins will "float" on the edges of the depression. However, this coin is so tiny, it goes into the depression. Therefore, the circular "water mark/color" you see in the reverse photo is the edge of that circular depression. For whatever reason, it didn't show up in the obverse photo.
I have a few California gold pieces. I focus on period one pieces as they were actually used in commerce. This particular coin was minted by Antoine Louis Nouizillet and is BG #109, MS 63 ex. William O'Connor.
