Help With Possible 1849 Liberty Head Gold Dollar

geak · April 6, 2011 7:43AM

Hi everyone,

This may sound hard to believe but when I was younger I went through a short coin collecting phase, I can't remember where I even got most of the coins from now but I kept them safe in my loft. A few years ago I was having a clearout when I came accross the coins and decided just for fun to look on the internet to see if I had any "rare" ones.

I was immediately drawn to this small gold coin, which almost looked fake and plastic to me, like lego money. However, after a quick search on google I managed to find the coin, and not only that but it appeared to be rarer than I could have imagined.

Now my initial thoughts were that it must be a fake, because how else could I (just a young kid living in England) have so unexpectedly come to own such a coin? But after searching, I couldn't find any evidence to prove it real or fake.

So, I was hoping that some of the people here may possibly be able to help me. Luckily I took some high quality pictures of the coin at the time with a friends camera that I will post links for below. Whilst the photos show a lot of the detail in the coin, they do not seem to represent the true colour when viewing it in person, which is a very lustrous gold as I have seen in other pictures on the internet. In addition, I have not attempted to clean/polish the coin in any way as I do not know the appropriate way to do so.

If anyone could have a look at the pictures and maybe give me an indication to anything that may suggest an obvious fake that would be very helpful. Also, if you could possibly tell me what sort of grade this particular coin would be classed as I would be grateful too, as I personally know very little about coins.

Many thanks in advance, Jay

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MrEureka · April 6, 2011 7:49AM

Looks real to me. Grade is roughly AU50. Don't clean it.

DorkGirl · April 6, 2011 7:59AM

If Andy says it looks real that's good enough for me.

PerryHall · April 6, 2011 8:03AM

Real---No L, Small Head, Open Wreath variety. Looks AU50.

BillJones · April 6, 2011 8:12AM

Genuine "small bust, "no L " gold dollar and as such among the first examples of the gold dollars that the mint issued. The lumps on the reverse are the start of a die break that is well known in the series to specialists. I'd grade as an EF, but I'm conservative.

CaptHenway · April 6, 2011 9:14AM

Genuine.
By the way, the head side is generally considered to be the front, or obverse. Sometimes, as on this coin, the date is on the reverse.
TD

geak · April 6, 2011 11:38AM

Thanks for the help people, I've been trying to read a little about the different variations of the coin, "no L, open/closed wreath" etc and also about the grading system, some interesting stuff.

Thinking about it, it's likely that it would have been my grandad who gave me the coin many years ago so I wouldn't really be interested in selling it, but I'm curious to know more about the coin.

Could someone possibly give me an idea of how rare this particular coin is in comparison to the other variations? Also, judging by its grade roughly how much might it be worth?

Finally, probably a noob question, but why do you suggest not cleaning the coin? In most of the other pictures I've found on the net the coins look very polished and to be gleaming, though it's probably just the lighting in my pictures that make my coin look dull, because in person it does look very attractive.

Thanks again, Jay

ambro51 · April 6, 2011 12:25PM

The 1849 gold dollar has about 9 varieties and mint marks. The No L was the first batch struck, on May 8, 1849. The design proved faulty, in that the fields of the obverse were curved, while the field on the reverse was flat. The head of Liberty is sunk deeply into the die, as are the stars. It is a genuine "high relief" design. When the dies clashed...as often happened with gold dollars in general, on the No L it resulted in extreme pressure on a central point on the reverse, which started a die crack. Rather quickly, this resulted in a complex die break pattern. Longacre had prepared two reverse dies. Both shattered on that May 8 so long ago.....and the design was modified, the fields flattened and the bust and star impressions changed. Its not a small head at all, but the stars appear different and our eyes play this trick. Breen felt 1000 of these were struck, but today surviving numbers make that impossible. Bowers has upped the mintage estimate to 10,000 pieces. Still, a mere drop in the bucket for all of the 1849s combined.

Many were saved, in relation to the number that ended up used for jewelry, numismatists have made out pretty well with these. They are delicate little jewels, a real credit to the skill of Longacre, new on the job, and having this complex task to challenge him.

heres mine, ANACS MS63

mingot · April 6, 2011 1:14PM

<< <i>Finally, probably a noob question, but why do you suggest not cleaning the coin? In most of the other pictures I've found on the net the coins look very polished and to be gleaming, though it's probably just the lighting in my pictures that make my coin look dull, because in person it does look very attractive.y >>

Short answer -- if you clean it and anyone can tell you cleaned it (and chances are they will be able to tell) then it will be worth much less than if you had just left it alone.

The pictures you have seen are most likely just coins with less wear.

Seriously, do not clean.

Colorfulcoins · April 8, 2011 2:18AM

Don't clean it with ANYTHING.....no polish, no soap.....just leave it as is.

ambro51 · April 8, 2011 2:49AM

You should only clean a coin using dust from a unicorns horn.

geak · April 8, 2011 5:26AM

Ok thanks for the advice, glad I didn't clean it now.

I did read somewhere about the die breaking story, thanks for going into detail on that, so I'm assuming that the coin is one of the more rare ones now as it's out of the first batch cut?

I just wish I knew how I came to be in possession of the coin haha.

geak · September 9, 2015 3:50AM

Bumping this thread as the coin is now for sale! Any questions don't hesitate to ask, message me through ebay or directly at jay-willis@live.co.uk thanks!