Quote:
>> Can anyone tell me who may have minted this coin, and maybe it's
>> approximate value?
>> It's a gold 1871 California 1/4 dollar: it says 1/4 Dollar Calif. on obverse,
>> with a large liberty head w/date on the inverse. The mint mark (also on
>> inverse) is a "G", with another "G" superimposed on it. The only coins
>> like this I can find in coin price guides have an "H" mint mark. It's
>> uncirculated with original mint luster.
Based on the date, the repunched G and the liberty head:
Assuming that it says 1/4 DOLLAR CAL inside of a wreath, there is 13
small, badly placed stars around the liberty head, the 7 in the date
nearly touches the rim while the 1 in the date is high and badly
placed, you have BG838. This is one of the more common "period two"
California fractional gold coins. The manufacturer is not 100% certain
but Breen guessed that this was made in the year on the coin by
Robert Gray from tooling created by Antoine Louis Nouizillet in the
early 1850s. A nice uncirculated piece should be worth about $250.
Oh yes, I assumed that the coin is round.
Quote:
>This is a long shot but this sounds like a 25 cent piece manufactured by
>New York firm, Gaime, Guillemot & Co. Pattern was made by Fontier and
>Divercy. Generally struck from unrefined native gold-silver alloy. In
>the years 1859 on these coins were generally made as souvenirs and for
>use in jewlery. Approximately 15,000 pieces of CA small gold are
>estimated to exist, in 500 varities.
Jay Roe has 600 vars in his collection.
Quote:
>True MS-65 coins are very rare and command high premiums.
An exaggeration. I've found that in the smaller pieces the price
difference for MS60 vs MS65 is around 2x; a much smaller difference
than for most US coins.
Quote:
>The later period gold(as you have) that were used
>as souveniers and not as circulating currency tend to be of lower value.
> For further information consult: Walter Breen and R.J. Gillo,
>"California Pioneer Fractional Gold", 1983.
Hee, hee, he. You have to find a copy of this book to be able to use
it as a reference. I begged and pleaded and got Gillio's last copy.
I know of a book dealer that has one listed for $185 (this is a 160
page paper back). Maybe one can find a coin dealer that has a copy
that you can look at, although it is not unknown for such copies to
have been stolen.
--
Most things worth doing aren't easy.
Mike is EAC #4357, LSCC #1636, JRCS, ANA #R-170301
Visit our home page http://www.rahul.net/karenml for a coin book review,
coin want list, coin for sale list, 20th century US coin hub list, and
California fractional gold attribution/price guide.