I don't know if it is real, but.....................

[cpm9ball]

has anyone ever seen one of these? Is there a particular significance for the date? It's diameter is 11.8mm which is about two-thirds the size of a dime. I found it tucked away in one of my Mom's jewelry drawers. Help, please?

 

Chris

[harvey8542]

Chris I believe I have seen these on ebay before. Here is one item # 260210384165

[kryptonitecomics]

I believe it's a token as opposed to a true fraction gold....I seem to recall that if the denomination is not listed on the coin then it's a token but I have little to know expertise in this area.....

[MarkFeld]

has anyone ever seen one of these? Is there a particular significance for the date? It's diameter is 11.8mm which is about two-thirds the size of a dime. I found it tucked away in one of my Mom's jewelry drawers. Help, please?

 

Chris

It is not a genuine Cal. fractional gold piece. The easiest way to tell is that genuine ones do not have bears on the reverse.

 

Edited to add: Another easy way to tell is, as Shane indicated, if there is no denomination included on the reverse.

[okbustchaser]

It is a fake. For that matter, ALL California fractionals featuring a bear are fake. Most of these were made as souvenirs during the 1960's.

 

 

 

Edit to add: Serves me right for actually doing a little work instead of posting. When I typed out answer there were no posts other than OP. By the time I got rid of meddling co-worker with entry level question (although she has worked here over 10 years) there were several.

[cpm9ball]

I really didn't expect it to be real, but does anyone know if it even has any gold content? This is just one of the thousands of memories of my Mom that I will keep.

 

Chris

[MarkFeld]

Chris, I don't believe it has any gold content.

[BillJones]

Woolworth's used to sell the same token for $2.00 a piece in the 1960s. At the same time they were charging $13.00 for 1939-D nickels in VF. At the time the 1939-D in that grade was selling for $3 or so.

 

This does not have any gold in it, and it is no genuine.

[bsshog40]

Looks like you got the right answers Chris. Fake Cal fractional, no gold.

[cpm9ball]

Yeah, I didn't think it was real, but it was something my Mom had kept. I'm still curious about the significance of the date. Why 1852? Why not 1849?

 

Chris

[okbustchaser]

1852 was the first year that real California fractionals were minted. The souvenirs take that into consideration.

[ldhair]

This is a really cool site.

site