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Message:: [QUOTE="900fine, post: 592211, member: 6036"]PERIOD TWO FRACTIONAL COINAGE From the earliest days of the Gold Rush California was, of course, world famous. Originally, many came for the Gold Rush, but by 1858 many were coming for tourism and curiousity. The California Fractional coins were a unique and distinctive part of "The California Experience", even though they were obsolete - so the jewelers kept on making coins - for souvenirs. NOT for circulation. And so begins Period Two coinage (1858-1882). That is THE critical thing to understand about Period Two coins; they were NOT intended for circulation. They were souvenirs and jewelry. For this reason, there are many Mint State, even Proof Like, specimens around.  For this same reason, there many damaged bezel-mounted pieces around. Be careful !!! Private minting is tantamount to counterfeiting. Through 1857, the Mint tolerated the private mints and jewelers because they provided a valuable service. But by 1858, they were obsolete. Before long, the Secret Service began to crack down on the privates, and for good reason - they had always been inferior quality and rarely, if ever, contained the proper amount of gold. They always traded at a discount in banks back East. That is why the privates removed the denomination. They could keep making trinkets and claim they weren't money ! But since many of them had a visage of Liberty similar to the Type 1 Gold Dollar, Uncle Sam considered them illegal anyway. That is why they started putting Indians on them ! Again, Uncle Sam was unimpressed. Then, they started back-dating them to pre-1858 so even new coins would look like Period One coins, when private minting was tolerated ! Uncle Sam didn't fall for that one, either. Anyway, it's a long and complex story. Well worth the read. Try "California Pioneer Fractional Gold" (Breen / Gillio)[/QUOTE]

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