CA Gold Scares Me!

....only because I don't know much about it. I had the chance to buy this one earlier today as part of a larger lot. I was not comfortable with making an offer and potentially ending up with a fake. Maybe I missed a good one? Either way, I need to study up on CA gold. FYI... could not weigh it due to being in 2x2.

 

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And these I would run not walk away from as they are faked so many times it isn't funny.

 

You should be glad you passed on it.

 

Doesnt even look gold. Best to buy CA gold pieces in slabs. There are a lot of fakes floating around ebay too.

 

You are right! It did not test positive for 90% gold with my sigma which was also a red flag although I am not sure what % gold was in these and have not had a chance to look that up yet.

 

If it does not show a value, like “dol,” it’s not good. It’s only a token or souvenir. Good pass!

 

That one looks so 'God Awful' that a kid at Chucky Cheese would be lucky to score it.

Do you due diligence and research before ever venturing into such an endeavor.......

 

Just about every form of old gold coins I can think of is best purchased in a slab whether you like slabs or not.

 

If it has a bear on the back it is bad. If it doesn't have a denomination on it (D, DOL, Dollar etc) it is not a genuine piece, but may still be a jewelry piece made of low fineness gold. Those two rules eliminate most of the fake CA gold fractionals.(There are a FEW fakes out there that do have denominations on them)

So with those two rules in mind we look at the piece you posted and find that the second rule identifies it as a fake.

 

Condor101 is absolutely correct about those two tells from my experience.

"If it's got a Bear, Leave it there."

As far as purity goes :

"Without a Number, It's way Under."

Even though many of these "coins" or "tokens" were actually made of gold, without doing some form of on-the-spot-assay you don't know what you're getting.
Even the real gold ones are low quality/low karat gold, usually around 9Kt , at best.

First, study and learn to recognize the fakes, then, study some more to learn to recognize the real ones.
Be aware that only about 6% (if memory serves) of all California Gold pieces out there are actually real California Gold pieces.

The link posted by GDJMSP is a good one but there are many sources for info. Just google "California Gold pieces" and you'll find lots of reading.

Remember to Study first, Buy second.

Good Luck !

 

As a coin dealer I am scared of California gold and any U.S. dollar gold coins as they are heavily counterfeited. I have to be certain before I would even think of buying and for the most part I am seldom certain. I will say any California gold that has a bear on the back...well you should run from that just like a real bear!

 

Hey twoshadows , Welcome to Coin Talk !!

 

Thanks, been a few years but I am back.

 

first of all....they say gold doesn't tarnish....is that true?

 

Let's just say I would rather find gold in the ground than copper, nickel or silver! lol

 

Gold does hold up much better than all other metals that have been made into coins. Color may differ but the designs hold up well! And, should I ever find any with a metal detector I will force myself to be happy about it! lol