1853 Gold Dollar - BG-502, Eagle
Strike Type
Coin Details
Auction Record
- Price realized
- $25,300
- Sold
- Grade
- AU58
- Auction house
- Bowers & Merena
Description
This octagonal California gold dollar, dated 1853, is BG-502 in the Breen-Gillio catalogue of California fractional gold and belongs to Period One (1852-1857). Period One pieces were struck privately in San Francisco from 1852 to 1857 to stand in for small change, which was short in Gold Rush California; most of them weigh well under the gold value of their face (Locke 2013). Their eight-sided shape is that of the octagonal fifty-dollar pieces of the United States Assay Office, a likeness one miner pointed out in an 1854 letter (Chandler). The reverse has the Humbert-style eagle with CALIFORNIA GOLD 1853 ONE DOL. placed unevenly, the 5 and 3 of the date upside down (Locke). Catalogue number: BG-502 (Breen-Gillio). PCGS number 10479.
Rarity Notes
R-8 (Breen-Gillio 2nd ed., as tabulated by Locke 2013)
Cross References
BG-502
External References
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