Help with California fractional gold 0

[Woods020]

A friend of mine just acquired this coin, ironically not knowing anything about it. He is wondering price and rarity, but after digging through all the California fractional stuff I can’t find this one listed. Anyone know about this?

[GoldFinger1969]

Is the coin -- and the slab -- authentic ?  If so, coin in that condition without the PL or DPL indicator should be worth anywhere from $1,500 - $3,500.  But I am NOT familiar with this coin, just going by past sales.

[Fenntucky Mike]

Same coin, MS67, sold at SB for $216 in Nov of 2021. It was from the same submission as this one # 5957109.

https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-TZMTF/1852-california-gold-token-octagonal-12-liberty-bear-2c-ms-67-ngc

Looks like there were several of these in the same auction.

https://archive.stacksbowers.com/?q=049f6e03-51ee-446d-a729-5f5c9b682a5a

Your friends coin was in the same auction.

[MarkFeld]

On 3/9/2022 at 12:41 AM, GoldFinger1969 said:

Is the coin -- and the slab -- authentic ?  If so, coin in that condition without the PL or DPL indicator should be worth anywhere from $1,500 - $3,500.  But I am NOT familiar with this coin, just going by past sales.

That sounds way too high to me and I see that Kentucky Mike has confirmed that. Where did you obtain the figures you posted?

[Woods020]

On 3/9/2022 at 6:09 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

Same coin, MS67, sold at SB for $216 in Nov of 2021. It was from the same submission as this one # 5957109.

https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-TZMTF/1852-california-gold-token-octagonal-12-liberty-bear-2c-ms-67-ngc

Looks like there were several of these in the same auction.

https://archive.stacksbowers.com/?q=049f6e03-51ee-446d-a729-5f5c9b682a5a

Your friends coin was in the same auction.

Thanks Mike. Much appreciated. I went through the book side of it and could not find this exact variety.

[GoldFinger1969]

On 3/9/2022 at 7:13 AM, MarkFeld said:

That sounds way too high to me and I see that Kentucky Mike has confirmed that. Where did you obtain the figures you posted?

Heritage past sales, Mark.  But I couldn't find an exact match so that's why I was cautious in my post.

Still....if this is gold, $216 sounds low, no ?  Sounds like it is selling for melt value only which is rare for sub-ounce coins of any type regardless of condition.

[MarkFeld]

On 3/9/2022 at 9:00 AM, GoldFinger1969 said:

Heritage past sales, Mark.  But I couldn't find an exact match so that's why I was cautious in my post.

Still....if this is gold, $216 sounds low, no ?  Sounds like it is selling for melt value only which is rare for sub-ounce coins of any type regardless of condition.

They are tiny tokens (not rare coins) of very little gold, by weight.

[RWB]

California fractionals (authentic ones) have been a drug on the market for decades. Long ago, I bought a couple from a Paramount auction along with some seated dollars. When I went to settle, they offered the remaining lots at less than half the opening bid. I didn't have the cash - the seated dollars saw to that. (I think this was at one of the Paramount sales in New Carrollton, Md -- at the old Sheraton.)

[GoldFinger1969]

On 3/9/2022 at 10:03 AM, MarkFeld said:

They are tiny tokens (not rare coins) of very little gold, by weight.

I did see prices all over the map for this and couldn't do an exact match-up in the HA database.  Surprised "gold" is on the label if it's not 100% gold.  Makes tracking past comparables difficult, for sure.

Sorry for the error, Woods.

[Woods020]

On 3/9/2022 at 9:11 AM, GoldFinger1969 said:

I did see prices all over the map for this and couldn't do an exact match-up in the HA database.  Surprised "gold" is on the label if it's not 100% gold.  Makes tracking past comparables difficult, for sure.

Sorry for the error, Woods.

No worries. Clearly I was stumped too

[Conder101]

NGC slabbed a fake/fantasy California fractional?

[Just Bob]

On 3/9/2022 at 4:04 PM, Conder101 said:

NGC slabbed a fake/fantasy California fractional?

Yep. It's on their list of tokens they grade:

https://www.ngccoin.com/coin-explorer/united-states/tokens-and-medals/california-and-state-fractional-gold-tokens/

[thebeav]

The token and charm market, to which this piece belongs, is not to be confused with the California fractional 'COIN' market. This is not a California fractional gold coin. Yes, they can be gold, this one is. As Mark said, they're so small there isn't that much gold there. 

The market for these has really heated up over the past 3 or 4 years. More than the fractional 'coin' market......