Expert: Brad Swain - 3/25/2010

Question
hi my grandma gave me a jewelry box that was my noni's and it had this strange small gold coin , on the front theres a man or a woman head on it underneath the head it says 1852 , above the head there are 13 stars . on the back it says California gold (at top) , in the middle it has 1/2 , under the 1/2 is a picture of a bear on the sides of the bear there are markings but i'm not really certain what they are . if you have any idea what it is or what its worth please e-mail me , thank you

Answer
Hi Elizabeth, Many modern copies and fantasies have been made as well.
If a California gold token has a bear on the back, it's probably a replica token, of negligible numismatic value. modern replicas. These are typically made of brass, perhaps plated with a thin coating of gold. Such tokens are of nominal value only, perhaps a dollar or so. (If a replica is made of solid gold, it is worth roughly the meltdown value of the metal.) Real territorial gold pieces usually have the word "dollar" along with a denomination on one side, and the year of issue with a Liberty head on the other side. Replicas generally lack the word "dollar" and often have a bear (or anteater-like creature) on one side.

The gold rush economy of Northern California in the early 1850's lacked sufficient smaller denomination coins to facilitate the rapidly growing commerce of the area. Federal coinage  was hoarded and not readily available. Because of the abundance of native gold and lack of small denomination coins, transactions were often made with gold dust, nuggets, and other primitive assay products, like the amalgam ball.

By 1852 several entrepreneurs began making small gold coins of varying values. Mostly jewelers by trade, these men frequently hand struck these little coins. The practice of making private small gold coins continued for years after the San Francisco mint was producing sufficient coinage for the West, with most later pieces produced as souvenirs.

Today California fractional gold coins are often categorized into two classes based on when they were struck. Period 1 coins were minted from 1852 to 1856. Many experts in the field agree that these pieces were often used as small change in the gold rush, and this theory is supported by the fact that a significant percentage of these early pieces have circulation wear.

http://www.reisbord.com/goldcalfractionals.htm
http://www.calgoldcoin.com/tokens.htm
http://reviews.ebay.com/California-Gold-Coins-Tokens_W0QQugidZ10000000002420368
http://users.scronline.com/lockem/calgold_faq.txt
Brad