here I go again getting the "ODD" stuff. I didn't know these things existed until I bought it. (too bad it's holed) tiny lil bugger though less than a size of an M&M candy and super thin. Thought you'd like to take a gander at it. looked it up in the red book, love that research.
Fake. And not even a good one. Fractional California gold does exist. Much about it remains uncertain today. After researching and writing on the subject, I am very cautious. For one thing, in the case of actual strikes, we do not know who may own the dies today. Many were made in the 1880s long after the Gold Rush as tourist pieces and good luck charms. They served no purpose in commerce. Many from the 1880s can be attributed to EAST COAST sources. Just sayin'... even if it was real--which this is not--any California Fractional Gold from the actual gold rush could be less than genuine.
At least start with the online authorities. https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/category/california-fractional-gold-1852-1882/1659 https://www.ngccoin.com/coin-explorer/california-fractional-gold-pscid-84 https://blog.ha.com/2019/12/california-fractional-gold-half-dollar-part-of-gold-rush-history/ and of course https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_gold_coinage and even a secondary popular write-up for our hobby community https://coinweek.com/counterfeits/counterfeit-coins-detection-california-fractional-gold/ The problem is that all of them look to the same reference, Breen-Gillio. As a libertarian, Walter Breen was pre-sold on the reality of these coins. He told the story everyone wanted to hear, and which is still repeated today, that these coins circulated in California in the early days of the gold rush, c. 1853. Walter Breen's original book (1980) was California Pioneer and Fractional Gold: Historic Gold Rush Small Change 1852-1857 And Supressed Jewelers' Issues 1858-1882. Ronald J. Gillio knows his coins and his markets and believes that he can differentiate the various series. He published work of his own, then took up Breen's. You will notice that the sales all give BG-numbers. Before them, there were these: Private Gold Coinage of California, 1849-1855 : Its History and Its Issues by Edgar H. Adams, 1913. (The Adams book is what tripped up John J. Ford. Adams listed Agnell as Agrell and Ford took it literally.) California Gold, Quarters-Halves-Dollars: a Descriptive List of Privately Issued, Interesting and Historical Coins of Small Denominations (1932) Edward M. Lee. And updated 1970, 1979 by Kenneth W. Lee California Fractional Gold by David and Susan Doering; Published by The Authors, Santa Monica, CA (1980). When I worked at Coin World, I read all of those books, studied the coins, and bought one certified. Then Trends editor Stuart Segan asked me, rhetorically, "Who owns the dies?" According to the Mike Locke Cal Gold website (not https secure) the dies from Antoine Nouizillet-M. Deriberpe-Isadore Routhier 1853-1856 eventually were sold at auction in 1987.
