Expert: Jim Lawniczak - 3/27/2007

Question
all right i have a gold coin that i would like to know how much it is worth it is about 1 1/8 inch in diamiter it has a old fation scale with SMV on one side of it on the other side it has .900 and on that same side of the coin it say's, CALIFORNIA GOLD.DOLLS 20 SAC.  DOLLS is spelled right.One the other side in the middle of the coin it has a 20 and around the out side of the coin it say's BLAKE & CO. ASSAYERS  . If you would like a pix of this coin please send Email thanks.

Answer
Travis, I believe you have what is called a California fractional gold piece.  All sorts of these were made after the gold rush in order to put the gold into a usable form.  They are very collectible and certainly worth their gold content (unless they are counterfeit or "replicas", and authentication by an expert is necessary on that issue).

Go to www.google.com and do a search for California fractional gold and you'll see quite a few websites giving you a history of these types of pieces.  Go to www.ebay.com and do a similar search and you will see similar pieces for sale.

Hope this helped, Jim Lawniczak