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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;900fine, post: 559145, member: 6036&quot;]Recommended reading : &quot;<i>California Fractional Gold</i>&quot; by Breen / Gillio.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The San Francisco mint opened in 1854. By 1856, they had cranked out enough small denomination silver to alleviate California&#039;s &quot;small change&quot; problem, so Fractional Gold was no longer practical or needed.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Only California Fractional Gold before 1857 are referred to as &quot;Period 1&quot; pieces - struck by private interests for commerce.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>So-called &quot;Period 2&quot; and &quot;Period 3&quot; pieces (1857 and later) were struck by jewelers not for <i>commerce</i> - but as <i>souvenirs</i>. For this reason, many are found Mint State. And many are ex-jewelry.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Many, many &quot;coins&quot; are pre-dated... struck in later years and dated early 1850s.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>There is a lot of junk out there - be careful ![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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