Hey there, my mom has these gold coins from my grandma that were made into earrings, and they're around 12-13 mm in diameter. The problem is I dunno where they come from. I searched the net for like 2 hours and couldn't find a single thing. The coin says 1849 on the back. Here's a pic of what it looks like: http://www3.telus.net/public/a7a41376/earrings.jpg Sorry, but my uncle took the pic, and I dun have a camera to show the front of the coins. The front says "ONE" and is surrounded by an open wreath. At the middle bottom of the wreath is a stars and stripes shield, with 13 stars. I'm pretty sure it's the same as this one: http://www.antiquetalk.com/column701.htm If anyone can help in identifying these coins that would be awesome. Thanks.
Those are unlike any coin I know of. My best guest is that they are some type of reproduction of the California fractional gold coins. No real California fractional like this exist to my knowledge. There were & still are a great many of these reproductions made. Some of them are referred to as tokens - but this is inaccurate. There really were gold tokens minted in California during the gold rush - but I've never seen one like the pics you provided. There is a gold half dollar with a design a tiny bit similar to the helmeted bust on your earrings - link Perhaps that is where this design of yours originated.
