Expert: Neil S Berman - 5/1/2004

Question
Hi! well I've attained in my posession,a Blake co.assayers 20 dollar golden coin  with 1855 on it,and with milled edge,and sac. stamped on it ,in which i would presume would mean Sacramento Cal..and pictured on this coin is a screw handle that was turned to tighten down on a coin press,to stamp out the coin.Now from what i can come up with in infro. is that this coin was made by a private assayer co.,blakes,in 1855 to help production and fill in what the mints couldn't keep up with,and when the mints where in full production,these little private assayer co.in  california stopped production,do you know anything about this assayer coin,and maybe about how much it might be worth thanks  Richard,also were there any replicas made of this coin,the one i have is solid gold

Answer
Dear Richard. Blake & Company operated out of Sacramento, California from December, 1855 until May, 1858, prior to a US Mint in San Francisco. There was a US Assay office, but it did not manufacture small coins. They are common in replica form, in fact, I've never seen a real on outside of a museum. I would have you email photos of obverse and reverse if you want me to help you further, which I would be pleased to, but the likelyhood of it being real is worse odds than a state lottery. Sorry. Regards. NSB.