CA Gold…. Real or fake?

Crusty

I’m assuming this is fake. Would love to hear from someone who can confirm one way or the other….

jdimmick

100% fake

Crusty

@jdimmick - Thank you sir

RobertScotLover

yuck

coinsarefun

These are California gold token replicas. This should be of some help.

.

skier07

I’m no expert but the color is off.

AUandAG

Beware the bear.

bob

johnny9434

Bogus

TomB

I notice that we are all in agreement that it is not a California fractional gold, but no one has specifically come out to give you a few pointers as to why. If you are ever offered these tokens and they feature a bear then they are more modern, most likely non-gold tokens. Also, if they have a fraction, but no denomination, written on them then these, too, are more modern replicas.

PerryHall

If you see a bear, beware. All legitimate California Fractional Gold Coins are listed in the PCGS Coin Facts web site including pictures of each coin among other information. If it isn't shown there, it may be a token or a more recent fantasy coin.

thebeav

While a vast majority of modern, plated replicas feature a bear, the bear itself is not an indication of low value. I've had many 'bear' charms over the years that had good value.
Here are some examples, as seen on the Heritage auction site.
Number 1 sold for 184.00, number 2- 1175.00, number 3- 2115.00.
Any of these could have easily been a junk-box find from those that discount the bear. Sure, these were higher grade, but that's not impossible either.

ricko

Those tokens have been shown and discussed here several times over the years. @coinsarefun has provided a nice picture of a group of them. Cheers, RickO

PerryHall

Most of those bear tokens are backdated and were made long after the production of the California Fractional Gold Coins ended.

bsshog40

I picked up this fake one about 10 yrs ago for I think $2.