california gold coin ??????

[kieser sousa/rip]

I have a very small coin that I'm pretty sure is a fake or copy.But wanted to see what y'all think.The coin is about the size as a one dollar gold coin,weigh's 0.7 grams has the date 1858 with a libertyhead on one side and the words California gold 1/2 and a bear on the other side.What should a real coin weigh ? The photos are pretty bad and make it look like spots were the gold may be flaking off but actually there are a couple of dings that appear to be gold and not plated.Thanks in advance !

 

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[Don in SJ]

Carefully navigate this forum and I am sure you will get your answer whether it is a copy, reproduction or real gold or plated or made of brass.

http://www.calgoldcoin.com/default.htm

Don

 

[kieser sousa/rip]

Carefully navigate this forum and I am sure you will get your answer whether it is a copy, reproduction or real gold or plated or made of brass.

http://www.calgoldcoin.com/default.htm

Don

Thanks Don,cheakin it out now.If nothing else I cant wait to see my buddys face when I "find" this one.

 

[Mackaydon]

Quoting from the RED BOOK 2008
"(In bold print) Beware of extremely common modern replicas (often having a bear in the design), which have little numismatic value."
Don........

 

[mtntrekr2]

Unfortunately none of the California gold coins had an animal of any type on the back.
Also all of the true coins have some type of denomination marked on them D. Dol. Doll. or Dollar.
Sad to say these are the quick signs between a true coin and a replica.

Joe

 

[Don in SJ]

Unfortunately none of the California gold coins had an animal of any type on the back.
Also all of the true coins have some type of denomination marked on them D. Dol. Doll. or Dollar.
Sad to say these are the quick signs between a true coin and a replica.

Joe

These are known as gold tokens, and some are made of gold, the website is not working this morning, but this cache from Google does have explanations (photos not showing) of what some of the known varieties and whether they were gold, gold plated, brass, etc.



http://64.233.169.132/search?q=cach....htm+calgoldcoin.com&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us

This is the third or fourth one I have seen posted on various forums this year, I do not think any of the ones found were solid gold varieites, although some finders never followed up with the data.

Don

 

[kieser sousa/rip]

Unfortunately none of the California gold coins had an animal of any type on the back.
Also all of the true coins have some type of denomination marked on them D. Dol. Doll. or Dollar.
Sad to say these are the quick signs between a true coin and a replica.

Joe

These are known as gold tokens, and some are made of gold, the website is not working this morning, but this cache from Google does have explanations (photos not showing) of what some of the known varieties and whether they were gold, gold plated, brass, etc.



http://64.233.169.132/search?q=cach....htm+calgoldcoin.com&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us

This is the third or fourth one I have seen posted on various forums this year, I do not think any of the ones found were solid gold varieites, although some finders never followed up with the data.

Don

Thanks again Don,I cant get the photos to work off this site,But from what I'm reading there leads me to think I have a modern token.The thing that realy makes me think it's modern is the style of the head,looks pretty ...chincy ??

 

[Mackaydon]

"As with most collectables, knowledge is king. Beware of unscrupulous characters selling modern replicas or tokens as the real thing. These modern knock off's often have a bear on the reverse, a star, or do not state a denomination. However some fakes can be quite deceptive even for an experienced collector."
Source: http://www.reisbord.com/goldcalfractionals.htm

 

[minton7]

the color isnt even fight to be gold from how the pic looks........ gold is gold is gold.. easy to spot.. once you have saw a real gold coin

 

[kieser sousa/rip]

the color isnt even fight to be gold from how the pic looks........ gold is gold is gold.. easy to spot.. once you have saw a real gold coin

I've seen many gold coins and this coin is the same color....photos dont allways show true color.

 

[Mackaydon]

Here's another page that Don in SJ may have been referring to:
http://www.calgoldcoin.com/bears.htm

 

[kieser sousa/rip]

Here's another page that Don in SJ may have been referring to:
http://www.calgoldcoin.com/bears.htm

Thanks Mackaydon,some of thous look pretty close.This is a tuff one,I may have to send it somewere to get looked at.