Expert: PAPAJACK - 7/8/2007

Question
I have an uncirculated 1861 1/4 dollar California gold coin which was given to me.  I cannot find any information on the coin online, and was wondering if there is any value to it.

Thanks!
Bob

Answer
Hello Bob,  

I can give you information on the piece but not really tell you if it is authentic. There are a lot of fakes in this area of collecting. Here is some starter information for California Fractional Gold Coins:

San Francisco's population had swollen enormously by the early 1850's. There was a growing need for some of monetary exchange Gold dust and nuggets were common form of exchange, but not always to the satisfaction of all concerned. For this system to have worked, everyone would have to carry a scale as well as being able to reckon prices in some very different denominations.
The price of a drink was pinch of gold that was all the barkeep could get between his thumb and forefinger when he reached into the miners poke. If the barkeep had a hand the size of a catchers glove that could have lent itself to a mighty expensive drink!
The need for a more standard form of monetary exchange gave birth to many of the territorial gold coins from the San Francisco area that are so very valuable today. One of the first to appear in May of 1849 was the 500 dollar coin of Norris, Grieg & Norris. There were many others that soon followed five dollar, ten dollar and twenty dollar coins all helped greatly in filling the need for a more consistent form of monetary exchange. However, for conducting the businesses of everyday life, a form of small change was needed to complete the system. This was the reason behind the production of California Fractional Gold coins.

On August 25 , 1852 the Daily Alta California ran a story about 1852 half-dollar California money which looked very much like the Federal dollar gold coins of the same period. This description fits the coins made by A.L Nouizillet in 1852.
Other earlier entrepreneurs (such as Nouizillet and Routhier, Frontier Diviercy and Co. M.Deriberpe, Gaime Buillemot and Co.) All began producing California Fractional Gold to meet the need for small change.
Certainly other manufacturers still remain unknown today. All shared the desire to profit from the production of coinage for circulation- Especially considering the meter was able to determine the amount of gold in his coinage or his production charges.

There are three denominations in the series (25¢, 50¢, and $1.00) and each denomination is found in both round and octagonal types. There are many unique and semi-unique pieces in the series. With even the most common pieces having a population of less than 200 (with the exception of the Kroll hoard, to be discussed later! every piece of Cal. Gold that you might encounter is truly a rare coin. It is the belief of this writer (and many other students of the series) that less than 30,000 pieces exists for entire series.

Period One (1852-1858)
The Cal. Gold coins of Period One. I believe were used during the California Gold Rush as circulating small change. I also believe that the production of these stopped at the tune that the San Francisco Mint went into full scale production. Simply the need for Cal. Gold of uncertain value was diminished by the Mints productions of fully trust worthy coinage in the bay area.

Period Two (1859-1883)
The production of the Period Two coins lasted for over two decades. In 1883, Col. Henry Finnegass, San Francisco District, Chief of Operations for the U.S. Secret Service, seized dealer's stocks of Cal. Gold using the reasoning that manufacturers of these pieces of these pieces were in direct competition with the U.S. Mint. I believe that many pieces dated 1857 and 1858 were made at this time because the Secret Service deemed all Cal. Gold pieces minted after 1882 would be confiscated!

Period Three (dates uncertain)
Period Three coins still generate the greatest controversy among students in the field. Many producers late as the early 1900s were minting large quantities of low-karat and low-quality pieces. One of the main producers was a New York jeweler named Herman Kroll who made coins of all three denominations. Most were of 9kt gold and of poor quality. Kroll sold 811 pieces to A.C. Nygren sometime between 1883 and the early 1900's which were sold by Henry Chapman in his 1924 auction of the Nygren Estate coins. In the 1960's some of the Kroll's dies surfaced and their new owners made restrikes which were of much higher quality than the originals, and some of which were as pure as 22 Kt. Most were on thinner planchets and have reeded edge, rather than the plain edge of on the originals.
Some dispute all of the Period Three Coins as part of the Cal, Gold series. In a recent conversation with Mike Brownlee, the prominent Dallas collector and dealer in the series he offered the opinion that "All of the coins of Period Three are backdated issues of low karat gold and of Poor quality and by no means should be included in the series. Ken Lee, who has a solid claim to being the father of Cal. Gold collecting, was never particularly interested in Period Three coins-there were only three coins from this period in the lee Collection and they were not obtained knowingly P.C.G.S will not even encapsulate any of the coins from Period Three.

Authentic pieces have CENTS or Dollar or an abbreviation thereof on the reverse. The starting value is about $120 dollars each.

If you need to locate a coin shop in your area write me back, give me the nearest large Cities, some postal zip codes and telephone area codes. I will refer you to an expert in your area.

I hope this information helps. Please remember to rate this answer. And check the nomination box on the rating page below any comments you may have.

Good Luck

PapaJack