1853 Gold Dollar - BG-516
Strike Type
Coin Details
Auction Record
- Price realized
- $20,400
- Sold
- Grade
- MS61
- Auction house
- Heritage Auctions
Description
This octagonal California gold dollar, dated 1853, is BG-516 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 obverse stars are weak from die polishing; the reverse legend reads GOID for GOLD with DERI (Locke). Catalogue number: BG-516 (Breen-Gillio). PCGS number 10493.
Rarity Notes
Unique (Breen-Gillio 2nd ed., as tabulated by Locke 2013)
Cross References
BG-516
External References
Error Varieties
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