Authenticating Fractional Gold--Here are a few problem pieces to consider

airplanenut

Fractional gold has always been tough for me. I don't see it too often, lots of tokens (for jewelry and other uses) were created in the style of legit pieces decades later and backdated to the "original" date, some of the genuine designs are crude, and alloys seem rather variable. With that in mind, here are a few pieces that also have either holes or loops, so weights might not be useful, either. I'm curious about references for looking up fractionals, any easy ID tricks anyone may know, and also your thoughts on these specific pieces.

1- This one has a tiny Freemasons pin screwed in




2- If this one catches the light just right, it's got slightly reflective surfaces. Under magnification, it has a few areas that look like it was plated and the plating was wiped away.



3- Pucker-up Liberty?



4



5- This is the crudest looking of the bunch and from the color looks to be a low purity of gold.



6- This one looks pretty good except for the areas that look burnt.



7- Sorry for the bad obverse photo on this one



8- This one is pretty lustrous and the only one of the bunch that seems free of major issues. It weighs in at a whopping .24g.

KennyBerger

Wow. Nice pics!

jcping

Buy a Breen and Gillio, "California Pineer Fractional Gold" book, second edition. Study the photo carefully. You will get basic idea about what the real ones are.

Check Heritage website and search key word "BG" and you will see hundreds of old auction photos.

Check PCGS set registry and examine Jay Roe's set photos. This is an HOF set.

These are three good ways to start self learning California fractional gold coins.

Shamika

If you can find it the 2003 Bowers and Merena auction catalog of the Jay Roe Collection is a virtual text book for California fractional gold coins. This was one of the few auction catalogs I've saved over the years and I'm glad I did.

WaterSport

Neat stuff you have there.

WS

TopographicOceans

Where are the Bears on the reverse?

All the eBay tokens have bears on the reverse.

EastonCollection

In quickly scanning your very nice photos the first one is a token or souvenir. The others appears that they can be attributed by BG numbers.
If you want more info, definitely get the BG book and the Jay Roe auction catalog. Inside the auction catalog was a CD disk of each variety. PCGS coinfacts is another good place to find information on calfracs.

PerryHall

The Breen-Gillio book lists every known authentic California small denomination gold coin and includes a picture of the obverse and reverse of that coin. If it isn't in that book it's either a fantasy coin ("If you see a bear then beware.") or a token which won't have a denomination such as Dollar, Dol., D., or Cents. These coins are frequently called California fractional gold coins but they are more properly called small denomination California gold coins since they include many one dollar denominated coins and $1 is not really a fraction.

FullStrike

For me Cal Gold has always meant fraud. If small change was in such great demand , how is it so many pieces survive
in mint state?

I suspect original working dies still exist to this day.

PerryHall

<< <i>For me Cal Gold has always meant fraud. If small change was in such great demand , how is it so many pieces survive
in mint state?

I suspect original working dies still exist to this day. >>



The Period 1 coins did indeed circulate as money and many survivors show circulation wear. These coins were discussed in contemporary California newspapers during the gold rush. Also, many of these coins were found with other gold coins in the famous ship wreck salvage operations. Period 2 coins were made for the jewelry industry and as souvenirs for the tourist trade and most are mint state and many have proof-like fields. These are comparable to other non-circulating coins such as commemorative coins. Due to their history of being made in California during the gold rush era using native gold these coins are highly collectable and are popular with many collectors. Of course many don't like them due to their small size but I consider that part of their charm (pun intended). As far as dies are concerned I've only seen a couple of original dies and they were corroded and unfit for striking coins that would fool a collector.

jcping

<< <i>The Breen-Gillio book lists every known authentic California small denomination gold coin and includes a picture of the obverse and reverse of that coin. If it isn't in that book it's either a fantasy coin ("If you see a bear then beware.") or a token which won't have a denomination such as Dollar, Dol., D., or Cents. These coins are frequently called California fractional gold coins but they are more properly called small denomination California gold coins since they include many one dollar denominated coins and $1 is not really a fraction. >>



There are a few new varieties that were found/identified after Breen-Gillio 2nd Edition was published. I wish knowledge folks in this forum can share this info with us.

CRHer700

-OTA-
@airplanenut , did you ever find out the authenticity of these pieces? I am interested in being able to authenticate some cal gold, and found this thread.

oreville

A couple of these look authentic to me.
I prefer the term “California Fractional Gold pieces.”

Very hard to collect them raw. They have a way of easily getting lost right in front of you if not slabbed.

PerryHall

For those who don't have access to the standard Breen-Gillio reference book, the PCGS Coin Facts web site has a section dedicated to the California Fractional Gold coins where they list every B-G coin that they recognize and are willing to slab. Under each B-G coin, they provide pics among other information. If you can't find your coin here, it's either a token, replica, or a fantasy coin.

CaptainBlunt

The third edition of the Breen-Gillio reference book has been completed.

edwardjulio

Any information when it will be available for purchase?

CaptainBlunt

My guesstimate would be late this year to early next

FrankH

https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/category/california-fractional-gold-1852-1882/1659

• One viewpoint holds that some of these pieces circulated as coins in the 1850’s, with the dollars being extensively used into the late 1850’s, 1860’s and 1870’s, as few regular official dollars were issued until then. The author doubts that any saw circulation, and believes that they were made purely for souvenir purposes. Other students of the series have concluded that the earliest issues (those from 1852 through 1856) were intended for actual circulation and saw some usage at first, while later issues were sold as jewelry.*

==========
My only interest in them is the first series. More historic and more numismatic.

edwardjulio

Here is one of mine:

ProofCollection

I am planning to post about this in another thread. FYI, this is how PCGS is slabbing these nowadays (received back last week). I'm disappointed they don't have better inserts like the one posted above. I haven't tried tapping the slab to see if they'll dislodge but I assume they won't if this is what PCGS is going with.


And this one I bought like this:

edwardjulio

That insert appears to be the wrong size for that coin.

jfriedm56

Sometimes new and improved isn’t always better

joebb21

@ProofCollection said:
I am planning to post about this in another thread. FYI, this is how PCGS is slabbing these nowadays (received back last week). I'm disappointed they don't have better inserts like the one posted above. I haven't tried tapping the slab to see if they'll dislodge but I assume they won't if this is what PCGS is going with.


And this one I bought like this:

This is an embarrassment to pcgs and should not have been sent back like this. I recently had a 1662 2 pence sent back just flopping in the holder. I sent it back free of charge and got it fixed.

EastonCollection

PeakRarities

@EastonCollection said:

Sold! I love that piece, thank you for sharing with us.

airplanenut

@CRHer700 said:
-OTA-
@airplanenut , did you ever find out the authenticity of these pieces? I am interested in being able to authenticate some cal gold, and found this thread.

I'll be honest that I have no recollection of these coins. They were gone long ago.

CaptHenway

@EastonCollection said:

Wow!

EastonCollection

Thanks for the positve feedback - here is another one of my favorites - calfracs
I don't like the scratches but its so rare beggers can't be choicer