Back to Mike Locke's small gold tokens with bears index.

Bear #3

Bear with Ground underneath
Fancy floral pattern in front and behind
Denomination in large letters in middle
"CALIFORNIA GOLD" in arc across the top "calIfOnia gOld" are superscripted
and the O have dots beneath them.
Seen in 1/4, 1/2 and ONE size

1913 Issues of "The Numismatist" have advertisements for Adam Pietz Engraver and Die Sinker, which illustrate a tiger engraved in a style similar to make of the Bear2 tokens and an Indian in a style very similar to the M Hart State gold tokens.

60 varieties listed

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Bear #3, all are line drawing style, medal orientation
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Octagonal 1/4
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1854 Liberty #1

1855 Liberty #1, curved date, fraction bar points to left foot of A

1855 Liberty #2, straight date, fraction bar points to right foot of A as on 1857 #1

1856 Liberty #1 (eBay picture)

1857 Liberty #1

1854 Indian #1.

1855 Indian #1.

1856 Indian #1. Same reverse as 1857 #1.

1857 Indian #1. Same reverse as 1856 #1. Photo of token from the David Showers collection.

1860 Indian #1, obverse of 1860 Indian Bear2 #1, reverse of 1855 Liberty Bear 3 #1

1860 Indian #1, Indian head facing right with the reverse of 1915 Minerva #1. An unreported rarity by M. Hart.

1902 Indian #1, one of the "Coins of the Golden West" tokens. This obverse appears in the cased set, as illustrated by the lower photo. Access to set provided by Kagin's.

1915 Minerva #1, made by Hart and included in the "Coins of the Golden West" set (Ebay picture). Long solidus in fraction. This reverse appears in the 1915 cased set, as illustrated by the lower picture (access to set provided by Kagin's)

1915 Minerva #2, made by Hart and included in the "Coins of the Golden West" set. Short, low solidus in fraction.

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Round 1/4
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1852 Indian #1

1858 Indian #1 (Ebay picture)

1860 Indian #1. Photo of token from the David Showers collection.

1860 Indian #2, 14 stars. State gold type Indian, Hart reverse. Similar to, but not the same variety seen in the "Coins of the Golden West" set.

1860 Indian #3, 14 stars. State gold type Indian, Hart reverse. The illustrated token is exceptionally well struck. Note the unusual ring crack in the center of the reverse. This reverse appears on the token in the cased set (access to set provided by Kagin's)

1871 Indian #1, 14 stars. State gold type Indian, Hart reverse. A legendary rarity.

1915 Minerva #1, made by Hart and included in the "Coins of the Golden West" set.

1915 Minerva #2, obverse of #1 now with a crack through the date, reverse with fraction bar low. The illustrated token is about as nice as they ever get. Note that the "hairlines" are actually rather coarse die lines. This obverse appears in the 1915 cased set, as illustrated by the lower picture (access to set provided by Kagin's)

1915 Minerva #3, different obverse with a courier type date, top star not burried in the helmet, denticulated border. Reverse has a long solidus in the fraction, which points to the right edge of "californiA" and at the bear's back. There is a scratch across the bear on the illustrated token.

1915 Minerva #4, a third obverse with border dots closely spaced and a circle connecting them. The reverse has a very short solidus at a peculiar angle so that it points a G.

1915 Minerva #5, obverse of #3, reverse of 1860 Indian #2 with fraction bar pointing at the bear's butt. The illustrated token has the remnants of a jewelry mount and has been severely polished.

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Octagonal 1/2
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1852 Liberty #1, Apparently the same reverse as 1855 #1

1855 Liberty #1, 13 stars, crack rim to "califOrnia", another across front of bear+

1855 Indian #1, 13 stars

1856 Indian #1, 13 stars, crack down face, crack rim to "califOrnia", another across front of bear+

1858 Indian #1, 13 stars+
The illustrated piece appears to be in an old Kenny Lee sales holder.

1860 Indian #1, 13 stars

1871 Indian #1, 13 stars by Hart. A legendary rarity.

1900 Indian #1, one of the "Coins of the Golden West" tokens. This obverse appears in the cased set, as illustrated by the lower photo. Access to set provided by Kagin's.

1915 Minerva #1, made by Hart and included in the "Coins of the Golden West" set. Seen both 0.7mm thick (illustrated) and 0.6mm thick. This obverse appears in the 1915 cased set, as illustrated by the lower picture (access to set provided by Kagin's)

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Round 1/2
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1852 Liberty #1

1859 Liberty #1

1849 Indian #1. Burnie reports 1849 Indian round 1/2 California Gold in the cased set. This reverse is the same as on the 1860 Indian below. Access to set provided by Kagin's.

1849 Indian #2. The illustrated token was edge soldered into jewelry.

1856 Indian #1 (Ebay picture)

1857 Indian #1. Rather weakly struck.

1860 Indian #1, like Burnie type 46 number 4, noted as rare, but with 15 stars

1899 Indian #1. Obverse like Alaska Gold pinch tokens. Obverse rough, rusted die? Reverse of 1915 Minerva #2.

1915 Minerva #1, from the Hart set. 1915 low and touching rim dots. Solidus short and pointing at A.

1915 Minerva #2, from the Hart set. Both dies differ from #1. Obv date serifs smaller, date further away from rim dots, rim dots connected with a circle and base of helmet truncated. Rev has san-serif numerals.

1915 Minerva #3, from the Hart set. Both dies differ from #1 & 2. Obv date farthest from rim dots. Rev has very short solidus that points at "G". Scan of token from the Golden State Collector. 10.7x0.6mm, 0.42 grams

Note that the Hart advertisement illustrates the with serif style of #1.

1915 Minerva #4, from the Hart set. Yet another obverse, apparently paired with the reverse of #1. The illustrated token has large incompletely struck up areas; it is fully uncirculated.

1915 Minerva #5, from the Hart set. Same reverse as 1860 Indian #1. This reverse appears in the 1915 cased set, as illustrated by the lower picture (access to set provided by Kagin's).

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Octagonal ONE
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1860 Indian #1. Bear looks like a bear, with mouth open.

1898 Indian #1. Obverse common to Alaska 1 Pinch pieces.

1898 Indian #2, one of the "Coins of the Golden West" tokens. This reverse appears in the cased set, as illustrated by the lower photo. Access to set provided by Kagin's.

1915 Minerva #1. Scan of token in the Golden State Collector. Unusually thick and apparently gilt bronze. 11.9x1.2mm, 0.92 grams (the tokens in this series are usually solid gold)

1915 Minerva #2. Obverse of #1 before it cracked. Reverse with left part of ONE lower. 11.9x0.95mm, 1.14 grams, consistent with 10-14K solid gold. This reverse appears in the 1915 cased set, as illustrated by the lower picture (access to set provided by Kagin's)

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Round ONE
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1849 Minerva #1 as similar to that seen in the Hart set.

1849 Minerva #2, same head and bear as on the "Coins of the Golden West" set. Extremely rare.

1850 Minerva #1, as similar to that seen in the Hart set.

1915 Minerva #1, as seen in the Hart set. Much later obverse die state than #2. Burnie type 47, Number 3. Early die state (shown) with nose intact and coarse die polish on the reverse. Later die state has broken nose and rust on the reverse obscures the die polish. High crest with 8 lines joining it to the helmet. Star 1 misshappen and points to right of a dot (viewed from center of token looking to edge). Lettering far from dots. The right stand of U points between dots. Reverse with smaller ONE, with top of E level with the top of D. Only seen with patch of rust in field around bottom of E. This obverse appears in the 1915 cased set, as illustrated by the lower picture (access to set provided by Kagin's)

1915 Minerva #2, as seen in the Hart set. Lower crest with 7 fuzzy lines joining it to the helmet. Star 1 misshappen and points to left of a dot. The right stand of U points at the right edge of a dot. Dots large and essentially touching. Reverse with large ONE, with the right end placed lower. Slightly smaller than #1 or #3.

1915 Minerva #3, as seen in the Hart set. Lower crest with 7 fuzzy lines joining it to the helmet. Star 1 normal and points to left of a dot. The right stand of U points at the right edge of a dot. Lettering close to dots. Dots small. Reverse of #1.

1915 Minerva #4, obverse of #3, reverse of #2.

1847 Indian #1, with "CALIFORNIA" above, 6 stars in front, 6 stars behind. Bear looks like a bear, with mouth open+ (2)

1849 Indian #1, one of the "Coins of the Golden West" tokens. Photo of token from the David Showers collection. This obverse appears in the cased set, as illustrated by the lower photo. Access to set provided by Kagin's.