Expert: Ronald Fern - 12/10/2009

Question
I have a $20 Blake and co. gold coin. On one side it says Blake and co. at the top, assayers at the bottom with 20 stamped in the center. On the other side it says California at the top, smv.900 in the middle, 1855 over 20 dollars with SAC on the left side and GOLD on the right side. I cannot tell if it is real gold or a replica. It does not say "copy" on the edges. It also has a small T BELOW THE .900  which i assume would denote that maybe it was a coin to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the 1849 gold rush. I have another Baldwin coin with a horse on one side and  an eagle on the other dated 1850 that i know was made in 1949 for this event. I also have a coin that is poss made of silver or a substance that looks like it. It says "united states of America" on one side with "CAL" on the bottom and J.S.O. in the middle. On the other side it says 5 with DOLLS underneath it in the middle, with 12 stars going across the top and 7 stars across the bottom. I know the history of JSO and how he came from Pennsylvania to California to start his mint. Could you please tell me what you know about these coins. Thank you, Edward.

Answer
Hi Edward:

I've answered this question several times. There must be a number of these circulating out there. I'm guessing much of the interest is due to gold going up so much. It's now around the $1135 mark.

Blake and Co. were assayers in 1854 in California. It is also the year the San Francisco mint started and private companies were ordered to stop production of coins.

There's a strong chance your item is a replica.  Only 2 known genuine specimens exist, one in the Smithsonian and the other was in the Bank of California coin collection. This 1855 date is one of the most commonly encountered gold rush replica coins. It is a copy of a Blake and Company $20 gold piece. Those brass copies show a coining press on one side and concentric circles on the other. Chrysler Corporation mass produced these replicas in 1969 as part of a promotion for their "Gold Duster" car, and they are still fooling people to this day. The reproduction coins were not struck in solid gold, so that is a quick way to tell if you own a reproduction. A real Blake and Company $20 gold piece weighs 32.9 grams, but the copy weighs less.

This "coin" is copied fairly often and offered for sale on eBay. There is one listed for about $5. If you look at it under a loupe, you should see that it is roughly cast  and you may be able to see the underlying metal (grey) through the plated surface. If you drop it on a glass surface (table top), the replica coin will make a dull sound compared to a real coin.

See Link: http://cgi.ebay.com/1855-Blake-Co-Assayers-20-Sac-California-Token_W0QQitemZ1503...

For some interesting history on this item, see the below links.

See Link: http://www.coinfacts.com/pioneer_gold/blake_and_company/blake_and_company.html

See Link: http://www.reisbord.com/goldrusassayers.htm

If you have a genuine Baldwin and Co $10 piece, it will be valued somewhere between $10,000 and $100,000, depending on the exact design and condition. But for every real one there are probably 10,000 that are fakes cast in lesser fineness gold, if they are even gold, and sold as souvenirs about 100 years later. Since they were made before the Hobby Protection Act of 1972, they usually are not marked as copies.

Other gold coin issuers in 1849-50 include such names as J.H. Bowie, Cincinnati Mining and Trading Co., Dubosq and Co., Massachusetts and California Co., J.S. Ormsby, Pacific Company and Shultz and Co. Surviving examples from all these firms are great rarities today, not because so few were struck, but rather because of widespread melting in the early 1850s. Interestingly, their high attrition rate is almost solely attributable to one man, James King of William.

Your silver looking JSO coin is also likely a poor copy that was unplated or not properly plated to appear as the gold coin it was intended to pass for.

See Links:
http://www.coinfacts.com/pioneer_gold/pioneer_gold.htm
http://www.coinfacts.com/pioneer_gold/j_s_ormsby/j_s_ormsby_gold_coins.html

You may want to check eBay listings in the California gold category or exonumia (tokens) under coins and currency from time to time to see if items like yours are listed and what they are going for.

If any are real they are valuable and should be sent to (ANACS, PCGS or NGC) a third party grading and certification service.  If you still think they are authentic and need help finding a qualified coin person in your area feel free to a follow-up question back for the information.

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Thank You and Good Luck in your collecting.