1850 California Gold $10 Baldwin & Co

Kurtman9

First of all, I know nothing about coins; I'm a card guy. My son was looking through a coin collection that his grandmother gave him and he found this coin. Does anyone know what this might be worth and should we get it graded? Thanks in advance.

Baley

if genuine, it would be quite valuable.. however...

goose3

I JUST created a thread for you and saw you beat me to it.


SOmeone here should certainly be able to help you!

RYK

The gold ones are terrific and really valuable. This one is probably a cheap replica, but I believe there were some late 19th century silver restrikes. I'll bet that mrearlygold or regulated will come along and tell us all about them soon.

Someday, I would like to buy one of the proof replicas made from SS Central America gold. They are pretty cool and not too expensive.

fc

the main problem i see is that the coin does not appear
to be made of gold.

a silver coin would never get a 10 dollar denomination
in the 1850s.

RYK

I guess this coin could be a silver/tin restrike worth a few thousand dollars. I do not know what the diagnostics are.

From Monaco Financial's website...

"But the truth is that these were not the first coins to commemorate the popular 1850 Baldwin Horseman. Because most of the original Horseman coins were melted in the 1850s, few originals exist -- in any condition. However, this coin's popularity as a collectable can be traced all the way from the era of their minting, through the early 1900s and into the present. Interestingly, circa-1909, a coin dealer from the Northeast had dies carved and struck an unknown number of coins in a silver and tin blend. Those coins are often seen in public auctions and on the bourse floors of coin shows.

What I find amazing is that even Mr. Garrett, one of America's most renowned coin collectors and numismatists, owned a "silver restrike" (as they have become known) and in 1980, that coin sold at the Garrett Sale for an impressive $3,850."

MrEureka

Looks more like a cheap copy.

The "restrikes" have a completely different fabric. I'll try to find an image of one for comparison...

Edited to say that the above piece appears to be cast, at least based on the edge. Of course I can't see all that much of the edge, so please feel free to correct me.

SethChandler

Looks fake to me.

coinguy1

It appears to be a replica/copy - sorry.

MrEureka

From Heritage, one of the "real" "fakes", i.e., the restrike from discarded dies.

MrEureka

Looks fake to me.

Seth, where have you been? I've been worried about you!

RYK

Wow, that is pretty cool.

This is the more recent rendition struck from SS Central America gold:

SethChandler

Andy-------work, work, and more work. Lots of traveling. And a divorce. Thanks for asking.

Now gimme a real horseman!

MrEureka

Actually, I'm not so sure the "restrikes" were from discarded dies. I'm too lazy to look it up. Somebody, please enlighten us.

topstuf

I.....think...... that's from a popular set of souvenirs that a bank or savings and loan put out back in the 60's.
????????

cullenbryant

no expert here at all, but i was going through a gentlemans collection last year and he had one, a fake that is,
that looked just like the one posted.
It was taken to a jeweler who determined it was not gold

Halfsense

An announcement will be made soon that a superb 1850 Baldwin $10 Horseman will be part of a multi-million dollar Gold Rush era display at the next Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expo, June 1 - 3, 2006. I'll have a JPG soon and can post it.

-donn-

Conder101

Andy, the restrike you posted is NOT made from the discarded dies. The font of the letters is totaly different. On the genuine the O and C are round while on your "restrike" tey are tall and thin. Other features: On the genuine the lasso does not extend to the left of the cowboys had and that edge is under the I. The right edge of the lasso is under the center of the R. On the reverse the easiest to see difference is the left most arrowhead. On the genuine it is over the center of the C. On yours it is over the center of the S.

As far as the design details go Kurtman9's is much closer to the genuine than yours. His aso has features that show it to be a fake though. Most notably, on the genuine the top edge of the ground the horse is on if extended to the left would pass above the T. On his the T extends above the level of the ground.

1798CentCollector

Yes .. The "genuine"restrikes were supposedly made from "similiar" dies and not the original dies used in the original gold coins. Andy's picture is of one one the listed resrrikes in Kagins book.

Regulated

Sorry to be so slow to respond - PCGS wouldn't let me post for some reason.

Here is a picture of a real one that just happened to be sitting on my desk this morning. You'll notice that the letter placement is different from both of the other coins pictured in this thread.

Dabigkahuna

Gee, I thought Baldwin made pianos?



Larry
Dabigkahuna

waddaIknow

I've been asked to sell one of these coins for a friend and to be honest it's ugly next to what I've seen here.
I'll try to add a couple of photos but the one I have is only slightly larger than an average quarter and weighs 5g.
Did a chuckee cheese make some commemeratives of this one or do you suppose there is any potential value to mine?