California Gold Rush "tokens" - second class citizens to the major grading companies...

During the California Gold Rush, private makers (usually jewelers) minted small denomination gold "coins" many of which actually circulated as the need for coinage was intense (ever try to measure a "pinch" of gold dust with your fingers - bartenders were sometimes hired based on the size of their hands). These coins were deemed illegal by the US Government eventually and many of the folks making such coins began to mint "tokens" to avoid legal battles with the federal government. These tokens were used for jewelry and for sale as souvenirs to folks visiting California.

Some of these tokens actually shared the identical obverse with the denominated coins; these tokens are called "hybrids" and are in heavy demand with Cal Gold collectors. But, since they do not have a published reference book (such as California Pioneer Fractional Gold by Breen & Gillio), the top tier grading companies ignore them.

NGC certified such vintage Cal Gold tokens for a number of years. There are sets of these tokens in the Custom Sets Registry (look under "Gold Rush"). But a while back, NGC sent out a notice to collectors of tokens, medals, and other such pieces that unless the token or medal was listed in an established reference work, it would no longer be certified.

So, now we sit, unable to get our tokens certified by "the best" because they were too busy with other materials. It's a shame. NGC, while not always being spot-on with their attributions (confusing denominated pieces and hybrid pieces, for example), did allow token (and other) collectors to share the table with other collectors. Now we sit at the kiddie's table, waiting to once again be allowed to submit our Cal Gold tokens to NGC.