I have this coin kellogg & co 1854 stuck in this necklace homemade holder.I want to separate the two pieces to find out if this is a real coin. I can't see the back. I can see the joint were the older comes together. Any ideas how I can safely pull these two apart so I can see the back if there is one? Were there any necklaces made that were just copys for this coin? Why would there be no back?
There is some costume jewerly that uses coin designs. Some are pretty good copies but a dealer or seasoned collector should be able to tell the difference. If the coin appears to be legit, it might be worth a trip to a jewelers to have the coin separated from the holder to minimize damage to the coin.
Is this your coin? http://www.coinfacts.com/denominati...g_and_company/1854_kellogg_and_company_20.htm
[/QUOTE] Any ideas how I can safely pull these two apart so I can see the back if there is one? Were there any necklaces made that were just copys for this coin? Why would there be no back?[/QUOTE] Nancy, I know of no costume jewelry that was made to be a specific copy of the 1854 Kellogg $20. Copying a Kellogg coin for jewelry would seem like an odd thing for any jeweler to do. It could be that the holder completely covers the back? I can't quite tell from your description. If genuine, the diameter of the coin itself (not including the holder) should be about 34 millimeters (a tiny bit less than 1 11/32 inches). Bear in mind as you compare your piece to the illustrated coin on the CoinFacts website (refered in the post by Dockwalliper) that there are several varieties of this coin, because several obverse (heads) dies were used to produce them. The coin illustrated on the CoinFacts site is probably the Specimen-68 or finest known (grade-wise at least). I note that the dies were highly polished for that specimen. Some Kellogg 1854 $20 coins found in the SS Central America treasure (Christies sale 12/14/2000, Lot 129) showed a very rounded cheek, not apparent on the CoinFacts illustration. Also, the 4 in the date might be slightly misaligned with the rest of the date. On the SS Central America specimen above referred the 4 was slightly higher when compared to the alignment of the rest of the date. You may have a real treasure there, but a jeweler-goldsmith-silversmith should separate the pice from the holder to minimize damage, as previously suggested.
Nancy, It's definitely worth having a pro look at it....if it's real the red book prices it as $1600.00 in "Fine" up to $12000.00 in "Unc."
