Copyright 2000, 2001 Mike Locke
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Charm #1
CALIFORNIA 1/X *GOLD* CHARM without decoration. X is 2 or 4.
All are scarce to rare. Only known with the Washington head obverse.
Probably made on or about the year stated
All appear to be good gold, although Jay Roe says that they are pure gold plate on a 9KT core
Apparently made by Frontier & Belemere, on or about the date on the token
10 varieties listed
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Octagonal 1/4
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1872 Curly haired man, small date with dot. "CALIFORNIA *GOLD* CHARM." in 3 lines.
Both dies rusted. Lettering apparently hand engraved on the die.
1872 Curly haired man, small date. "CALIFORNIA *GOLD* CHARM." in 3 lines. CHARM very large,
California very small. Similar to #1, but both dies differ. Photo of token from the
David Showers collection.
1872 Liberty head, small date, similar reverse to Washington head #2, but "GOLD" larger.
Unfortunately the illustrated token has been polished. This is the only known example and
there is no rumor of a duplicate. Obverse of BG725.
Jay Roe reports 4 varieties of Washington head octagonal 1/4. (4 illustrated)
Note that Rulau and Fuld's dark illustrations and poor/inconsistent text descriptions
makes the matching of the Baker numbers to these illustrations doubtful.
1872 Washington head, small date with dot. "CALIFORNIA GOLD *CHARM.*" in a circle with
1/4 inside. Baker 504A; rarity 7 on the Sheldon scale, according to Rulau & Fuld. Roe-A104,
Burnie-81, EML-62. Probably closer to R5 than R7. The other 3 varieties are harder to
locate. Exceptionally rare in the condition shown.
1872 Washington head, small date no dot, obverse of BG724. "CALIFORNIA 1/4 *GOLD* CHARM."
in four lines with small stars and letters. Not in Baker; unknown rarity. Roe A103 Burnie-83?
EML-64?
1872 Washington head, small date no dot, obverse of BG724. "CALIFORNIA 1/4 *GOLD* CHARM."
in four lines with large stars and letters. Not in Baker; unknown rarity. Roe A102
1872 Washington head, large date no dot, obverse of BG722. "CALIFORNIA 1/4 *GOLD* CHARM."
in four lines with large stars and letters. Baker 504/EML 63; rarity 6 on the Sheldon scale,
according to Rulau & Fuld. Roe A101 Burnie-82
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Octagonal 1/2
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Jay Roe reports 5 varieties of octagonal 1/2 (3 illustrated).
The varieties that are not illustrated are described by Roe as
Roe-A301 Dot after date, small fraction
Roe-A305 No dot after date, flat obverse stars, large fraction
1872 Washington head CALIFORNIA GOLD CHARM. Dot after date. "GOLD" large, 2 recut.
The illustration is of Roe-A303
1872 Washington head CALIFORNIA GOLD CHARM. No dot after date. "GOLD" small.
Baker 505; rarity 7 on the Sheldon scale according to Rulau-Fuld. Note that
Rulau-Fuld do not list distinct varieties of this token. Roe-A304?
1872 Washington head CALIFORNIA GOLD CHARM. Dot after date, large fraction.
Baker 505; rarity 7 on the Sheldon scale according to Rulau-Fuld. Note that
Rulau-Fuld do not list distinct varieties of this token. Roe-A302?