1849 O Type One Gold Dollar…and a Mystery

[Locke]

The Find: I found this little guy on my third or fourth outing at the beginning of my metal detecting career. It was picked up in a tot lot at my old elementary school. [I’m guessing some brat snooped through his granddads coin collection and appropriated the coin…or…after speaking to the custodial staff they did say that the lot was recently refilled with new sand brought back from an unknown location…he thought it was from one of our local beaches…so maybe it got dragged in from there]. Regardless hands were shaking when I looked this little guy up…only 215,000K were minted.

Mystery: I took this guy to my local coin shop just to get an idea about what it was worth in its condition and maybe get some more info on it. The guy took the coin and immediately said it looked real…then something caught his eye and he started playing around with it…FOR TWENTY MINUTES!!...after twiddling my thumbs for close to half hour [old man is not much of a talker]…he gets back to me and says he thinks it’s a counterfeit!! He says it’s definitely pure gold, the dimensions and weight are dead on (1.7 grams and 12.7 millimeters). What bothered him the most was the reeded edge…he said it looked to imperfect to be genuine! He mentioned these are sometimes counterfeited in Middle East (gold cheaper to get there), and resold here for their numismatic value.

So there you have it…not sure what to think…I’m definitely planning to get a second opinion...maybe some expert here can chime in on the issue. (phew sorry for the long post)!

 

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[DugHoles]

Well regardless, you were in the right place at the right time. You scored gold........all is well

Cheers!

Dugholes

 

[blurr]

I'm not a coin expert, nor is this a negative statement about your find (very awesome). I would have to think it's real for one reason. It looks quite beat up to me, I don't really know how the coinshop guy could give you the opinion that it is counterfeit by looking at the reeding. The reeding is wore down and dinged up, as is the rest of the coin. It looks real enough to me. Great find!

John

 

[vegasmetsfan]

NO SUCH THING AS BAD GOLD!!!

 

[lasttoknow (Tim)]

Great find. Maybe even a find of a lifetime for most. A gold coin. Definitely get a second opinion.

 

[Jeffro]

I have to go the other way, it looks like a cast copy to me. While they can get imprints of the obverse and reverse pretty easily to cast, the edge is much harder to duplicate.

Even though pretty beat up, it does look cast to me. If the weight and dimensions are correct, you do have gold, and a neat curiousity!

 

[Rob66]

Doesn't quiet look right.Gold is Gold.Nice find!!!! You know, back then some people would cut the coin in half and replace the inner gold with platinum. and put the coin back together again.If you find one of them....WoW!!!!

 

[GL]

It's gold.
It's a coin.

It rules.

 

[Kas]

I'm not a coin expert, nor is this a negative statement about your find (very awesome). I would have to think it's real for one reason. It looks quite beat up to me, I don't really know how the coinshop guy could give you the opinion that it is counterfeit by looking at the reeding. The reeding is wore down and dinged up, as is the rest of the coin. It looks real enough to me. Great find!

John

Agreed. Grade is low and numismatic value is not going to be there. But, it's gold and you found it, that's what counts.

 

[Detectingfreak]

nice job on the old gold coin! You are

 

[pronghorn]

First let me state that I am not a coin expert by any means.
Second, congrats on finding gold.
I couldn't sleep tonight so I did a little googling of "gold 1849 one dollar coin"
If you look at the coin on this site...

http://www.us-coin-values-advisor.com/one-dollar-gold-coin.html

notice how the stars on the obverse seem to have dimples in the center
and the stars on your coin seem fuller. Don't know if that means anything,
just an observation.
Also there is some info on this site ( http://lakdiva.org/coins/notes/iapn_ibscc.html )
on counterfeit 1849 one dollar gold but I don't know if it will be of any help.

I would be happy to someday find gold, any gold, way to go Locke!

 

[crazyjarhead]

Looks like gold, but

 

[Locke]

Hey guys thanks for the replies,

I’m going to swing it by one more coin dealer just to be sure, but I agree with the “reeded edge” problem…but hey, gold is gold!

 

[sonny60]

gold is gold is gold

 

[Iron Patch]

The context of the find is what puts me over the edge to say copy. A contemporary counterfeit would not survive that well and I would have given it a good chance if dug at an old site, but being found at a school all adds up to copy.

It's not beautiful so why not just test it to be 100% sure?

 

[UTcoinshootR]

When you weren't looking the old man took his counterfeit and switched it with your real one.

 

[weasel606]

real or not if i'd found it my pants would be brown great find either way but i hope its real congrats

 

[Joe G]

after speaking to the custodial staff they did say that the lot was recently refilled with new sand brought back from an unknown location…he thought it was from one of our local beaches…

Before actually reading your post, my first though was that the coin was picked up at the beach. It has the look. I'd certainly investigate where the sand was brought in from and find out if they've done any other schools. I'd be heading for the beach and any school in the area with a sand box

Nice find.