1849 GOLD COIN, FROM THE GOLD RUSH..IN PHILLY..WOW.

[Vino]

So I purchased a new detector, The Blisstool V5.. Its said to go really really deep, for a VLF.
The reason for the buy is my old sites I have are starting to dry up.
The only things i have been finding are deep iffy signals.
So i thought i would give this one a try..
Not a everday detector. No screen, no VDI numbers to go by, and only one tone, and scratches for iron.
So glad i bought it!!!
Not that it was really deep or anything but would probably never would of dug it..If I was not listening really close..
Sorry for going on about the detector..
And the good part..
I was just about to go, it was so hot today. I already found a 1865 IH.
A flat button a musket ball. ( the musket ball was crazy deep.
12 or so inches down)
And i said just one more descent find and im leaving. .
Boy I am so glad i said that!!!!
I flip the plug and I see this gold edge. .I almost pooped myself. .lol
I grab my phone and take a pic..
Then I knocked a little dirt off and all i see is 1849..I stand up and started to do a dance..SAYING I FOUND A GOLD COIN..I FOUND A GOLD COIN. OHHHH YEAAAA..LOL.
Now I dont want to rub it so i grab a hand full of the dirt and put it in my film canister. .Shut my detector off and head straight to the truck..
My heart was pounding out of my chest..Called my wife, I new she was in class teaching, but hey!!!! I just found a gold coin!!! Lol
She told great honey now can i go back to work Ok i said..lol
So I got home and ran it under water .Wow dirt just fall off..
After a little bit of research.
I found out it is a coin token from the hold rush era..The first year made..
In my eyes I think that is so much cooler then a $1 dollar coin that I thought it was..
Sorry for the long winded post..
But as you see, Iam pretty excited about this find..
Thanks for looking. .
George

 

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[slowwevo]

Again Really nice Gold token you have there,I guess a mass spec gun wasn't an option

 

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[Vino]

Again Really nice Gold token you have there,I guess a mass spec gun wasn't an option

He had one, but told me they ar not reliable with heavy plated things.
So I told him go ahead and file it..
Thanks Slowwevo.
George

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Gold is gold. Makes it a nice find in itself. IMHO there is only ONE scale to weigh coins. http://www.trapshooters.com/attachments/dsc05518-jpg.286824/ The electronic gram scales just aren't accurate enough. I caught someone years ago trying to pull a colonial scam on me and I caught him because I had one of these scales and could weigh the coin to a 1/10th of a grain (not gram).

Don't forget that many coins in colonial times were struck from planchets that were not of uniform thickness, and this will result in variations in weight. So trying to measure these coins very precisely is not necessarily going to identify a potential problem. For example, I've dug over 40 Virginia halfpennies, and their weights vary between 5.25 and 7.37 grams which is quite a wide range. And the many silver 1/2 reales I have weight between 1.11 and 1.58 grams (without clipping). These are just a couple of examples, but the same result will likely be seen for any denomination of colonial coin, silver or copper. Not sure about gold, but I'd think maybe those would be a bit more consistent than the others, but I'm sure there are some slight variations even with those.

 

[qaela4]

Sweet find!!! Congrats.

 

[Vino]

Sweet find!!! Congrats.

Thanks Qaela..
George

 

[david680]

Nice find. The argument over fake or real is interesting. If it is a token, and doesn't even claim to be a coin, then its not a fake California Fractional Gold, its a real token (although probably a souvenir or curiosity piece rather than a true redeemable token). So its real gold. Even some of the restrikes of the 1960's were real gold, 22K even. Yes, its probably turn of the century, but its still a nice historical piece. I think some mistake that a piece has to have been a denominated piece from the 1850's to be real. Its all a matter of whether it has to be a real circulating coin before you will consider it authentic. I am well aware that there are tons of modern replicas, many that were around even before the Chinese replicas mentioned earlier. I would be extremely reluctant to put any of my hard earned money down on any "California Fractional Gold" I would be offered. But there are a lot of varieties of the tokens around, some of them are actually gold, and some of them are actually old, even if not 1850's. This is a great little find, congrats!

 

[ironhorse]

This is turning into a very entertaining thread!
I laughed, I cried, I think I even learned a thing or three

Glad it turned out to be a good one, if you ever found a fake 'anything' you'd never here the end if it !! lol

 

[Vino]

Nice find. The argument over fake or real is interesting. If it is a token, and doesn't even claim to be a coin, then its not a fake California Fractional Gold, its a real token (although probably a souvenir or curiosity piece rather than a true redeemable token). So its real gold. Even some of the restrikes of the 1960's were real gold, 22K even. Yes, its probably turn of the century, but its still a nice historical piece. I think some mistake that a piece has to have been a denominated piece from the 1850's to be real. Its all a matter of whether it has to be a real circulating coin before you will consider it authentic. I am well aware that there are tons of modern replicas, many that were around even before the Chinese replicas mentioned earlier. I would be extremely reluctant to put any of my hard earned money down on any offered "California Fractional Gold" I would be offered. But there are a lot of varieties of the tokens around, some of them are actually gold, and some of them are actually old, even if not 1850's. This is a great little find, congrats!

Thank you Dave for the insight!!
That was well thought out post.
Thanks for taking the time to write it..
And it is a great LITTLE find..
George

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Congratulations on the interesting Gold coin find! The coin detail is great! Again, Congratulations!

 

[Vino]

This is turning into a very entertaining thread!
I laughed, I cried, I think I even learned a thing or three

Glad it turned out to be a good one, if you ever found a fake 'anything' you'd never here the end if it !! lol

Thats Funny IH..
Your hunting partner IP already dont give a break, because of a couple reenactment buttons I found.
So nothing changed..Ha Ha.

 

[cw0909]

vino, reading sounds like your from philly, found this interesting tidbit
the article talks about 3 time periods for the coins and token, token coins
maybe do some more research on Herman Kroll, ya never know, your token
maybe from one of his dies

Only one maker of Period Three issues has been positively identified: Herman Kroll of New York City. Relatively few varieties exist which can be attributed to this period, and it’s believed that the last such coins were made early in the 20th Century. Known as Period Three coins, they too are quite collectable.
When the fad for fractional gold pieces as jewelry items faded after the 1880s, Henry Kroll sold his remaining stock to collector A. C. Nygren, whose estate was auctioned by Philadelphia dealer Henry Chapman in 1924. Some of Kroll’s dies resurfaced decades later, and a new generation of minters put them to work once again. This only confused the attribution of vintage pieces all the more, though the later restrikes made for collectors are known to be of finer gold than the original edition, which was intended purely for the jewelry trade.

more here
http://coinsite.com/us-fractional-gold-coins/

 

[Vino]

vino, reading sounds like your from philly, found this interesting tidbit
the article talks about 3 time periods for the coins and token, token coins
maybe do some more research on Herman Kroll, ya never know, your token
maybe from one of his dies


more here
http://coinsite.com/us-fractional-gold-coins/

Oh wow..
That was some great info there..
Yes it was found in center city philly.
Now im more confused. Lol
Would not even know were to start.
Thanks for that CW.
George

 

[cjon455]

damn, your committed!, or should you have been committed to the looney bin for filing down the coin to prove your point lol!!

good job!

 

[jwarner51]

Ok Im not a great photographer. .
But i definitely know what a gold coin looks and feels like..
I just took better pics..
Hope this clears this issue up, about being plated..

I agree those puts look better! I feel you have genuine piece. Congrats

 

[Ahab8]

ey buddy I'm glad you put this one to bed. I know that for some of us a $ amount doesn't define a finds worth. So having somebody file into that thing was worth knowing if it was truly gold. Such a cool and unique find. As for all of the members who were trying to figure it out....that's what I love about this forum. Some may not always appreciate the what things are conveyed but I for one only care about knowing what I actually have. If my little strap shield isn't Rev War so be it. If that token was from Chuck E Cheese lol so be it. I'm glad this turned out to be what you thought it was buddy. Keep killing it out there bro.

 

[Iron Patch]

ey buddy I'm glad you put this one to bed. I know that for some of us a $ amount doesn't define a finds worth. So having somebody file into that thing was worth knowing if it was truly gold. Such a cool and unique find. As for all of the members who were trying to figure it out....that's what I love about this forum. Some may not always appreciate the what things are conveyed but I for one only care about knowing what I actually have. If my little strap shield isn't Rev War so be it. If that token was from Chuck E Cheese lol so be it. I'm glad this turned out to be what you thought it was buddy. Keep killing it out there bro.

Have some bad news for you then... your strap shield is from a Welsh Chuck E Cheese.

I'm always surprised at some of the resistance there is on metal detecting forums for trying to find out the correct ID.

 

[Vino]

Have some bad news for you then... your strap shield is from a Welsh Chuck E Cheese.

I'm always surprised at some of the resistance there is on metal detecting forums for trying to find out the correct ID.

Right!!!!
And some are even willing to cut there coin to find out!!! Lol

 

[huntsman53]

Just came back from the coin/ jeweler. I told him he could cut into it, and put acid on it..
He did. It came back at least 10k. But the 14k failed..
He did a water test for the density. It passed.
So with that done. It is gold!!!
I had to do this for my self first.
And also for the nah sayers.
It may not be a coin. Or even one that was minted for money.
But it is cool..and its coin like and gold..
Thanks for pushing me to do this. Now I know..

George,

I am sorry that I did not chime in earlier and hopefully prevent you from letting the Jeweler cut into (damage) the Token and ruin it's collectibility and value! It is ashame that you felt obligated to prove that the Token is genuine, mainly to the naysayers but also to yourself. While it would have cost you some $60 or more, you could have just as easily sent the coin to NGC for certification and grading without damaging the Token and gotten back a certified and graded, genuine California Token that was a collectible token with value. As it is, you may be able to sell the Token to someone who is willing to take it for some premium over it's Gold value even with the damage but most likely, all you have now is a token worth Gold melt! Again, I am sorry that I did not chime in earlier! I spent too much time reading and responding to other postings and I really wanted to see what others wrote about your' Token but I waited too long to post in your Thread about the Token.


Frank

 

[cjon455]

George,

I am sorry that I did not chime in earlier and hopefully prevent you from letting the Jeweler cut into (damage) the Token and ruin it's collectibility and value! It is ashame that you felt obligated to prove that the Token is genuine, mainly to the naysayers but also to yourself. While it would have cost you some $60 or more, you could have just as easily sent the coin to NGC for certification and grading without damaging the Token and gotten back a certified and graded, genuine California Token that was a collectible token with value. As it is, you may be able to sell the Token to someone who is willing to take it for some premium over it's Gold value even with the damage but most likely, all you have now is a token worth Gold melt! Again, I am sorry that I did not chime in earlier! I spent too much time reading and responding to other postings and I really wanted to see what others wrote about your' Token but I waited too long to post in your Thread about the Token.


Frank

im with frank!

its not even my find and im kinda mad he had to damage it to prove a point

 

[Vino]

George,

I am sorry that I did not chime in earlier and hopefully prevent you from letting the Jeweler cut into (damage) the Token and ruin it's collectibility and value! It is ashame that you felt obligated to prove that the Token is genuine, mainly to the naysayers but also to yourself. While it would have cost you some $60 or more, you could have just as easily sent the coin to NGC for certification and grading without damaging the Token and gotten back a certified and graded, genuine California Token that was a collectible token with value. As it is, you may be able to sell the Token to someone who is willing to take it for some premium over it's Gold value even with the damage but most likely, all you have now is a token worth Gold melt! Again, I am sorry that I did not chime in earlier! I spent too much time reading and responding to other postings and I really wanted to see what others wrote about your' Token but I waited too long to post in your Thread about the Token.


Frank

No worries Frank..
Iam not selling it, even if I could.