Greetings! I'm so glad there is a place like this to ask questions for people like me, who stumbles upon a coin in the attic, apparently locked in a trunk for the last 100 years. I'm fairly sure it is authentic. It's tiny, and it has a provenance with it, stating that it was brought back from California by the grandfather of a cousin who was growing up in the early 1900s. Her grandfather is confirmed in California in 1873 so this coin would have been contemporary. Please excuse the quality of the photo because I've never shot something so little. It looks much darker than it really is - the gold shines brilliantly in the light. If necessary, I can dig out a tripod and do a little more work with the camera to get it better. I know decent fractional pieces have great value. My question is whether the hole is normal, and how much will it effect the value? It was threaded onto a thin gold wire which was twisted to keep the coin from floating away I imagine, and kept in an envelope in that trunk since possibly the 1920s, but probably much earlier. Any thoughts? Thanks!
Hi nMarauder, and welcome to Cointalk! I myself do not know too much about fractional pieces. I do know, however, what the hole is for. Often times, coins were used for jewelry and fashion. That piece was most likely worn on a necklace/bracelet. My father actually has a cent from 1798 that was used as a button. As for value, it usually does not add much, anc can sometimes lower the value.
My major interest is, as you said, how much it may lower the value. Compared to a lot of other examples I've researched the grade appears to be pretty high. The hole is just a wildcard that is very confusing.
Judging from calculations, it tends to decrease in value by about 30%. But, I cannot say that it lowers the value of yours that much. That's statistically the value lost, but there is a great margin for error.
Hello nMarauder and welcome to the forum. I am sure that you will find that your piece is a jewelers piece made for decoration during that time period and then also repeated later, even rather recently, as souvenirs. With the papers you have to point out the time of purchase, it might make a difference in its value, but I am sure family history would be higher. Jim
Reading from Redbook this type of this California small-denomination gold tokens/coins are commonly replicated..if that is real (which you may want to verify), redbook grades the coin (minus 20% since it is known that Redbook inflates prices) that this is worth $150, not taking the hole into consideration.
I'm not an expert but I've done some close up comparisons with confirmed real strikes and I'm 95% sure its real. The front shows some of the circular "scratches" that are common artifacts from die preparation, and examining the hair, wheat and numbers in a side-by-side comparison, they look as if struck from the same die. I've seen one other while searching for info that also had a hole, but there was no price for it so I couldn't see how much the price suffered. I wish it had tremendous familial value but, with such a huge family, some of the cousins from the past have had little influence on our family today. It is exciting, though, to find gold, of any quantity, where you expected to find none! EDIT: Just did a search for "holes in california fractional" (something I didn't think to do before, duh) and found a little history where the author says, "Other pieces were holed and strung on gold or copper wires to prevent loss or used for watch fobs, etc." The wire that it was strung on looks to be gold (its the same exact color as the coin). That info was at http://www.coinnews.tv/California-Fractional-Gold-Coins.htm. Wicked fascinating stuff. California territorial money in a trunk in Maine!
I certainly wish you the best of luck in it being authentic. The areas of your items that caught my eye was the appearance of the bust, the closeness of the stars to the bust, that the fraction bar between the 1 and the 4 of 1/4 was missing. I couldn't find a photo of a 1873 for better comparison. http://www.harrybassfoundation.org/basscatalogs/BASSSALE1/enlarge.asp?id=sale1bw/17307049.jpg http://www.harrybassfoundation.org/basscatalogs/BASSSALE1/enlarge.asp?id=sale1bw/17307048.jpg Jim
This is one of the better PCGS comparisons I've found. It allows for extreme closeup to examine the coin: http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=1153&Lot_No=0&LotIdNo=5096&ts=off#Photo The other 1873 liberty head 1/4s also don't have the slash in the fraction. Also, the letters in CAL and DOLLAR seem to be aligned the same way, with the D, for instance, a little lower than the other letters. The stars seem to be set in the same places as well. The hair is the biggest indicator for me.
I like it, however the hole would likely drop the value quite a bit. Look at Heritage past auctions they have sold (graded) from a couple thousand dollars down to in the $150 range. The $150 range being for coins in genuine or problem holders. I would guess between $100 and $200 for your coin if it is proven to be real.
