BG-1102, 1860 California Fractional Gold $1, Liberty Octagonal NGC MS65PL R4

This variety was produced by Frontier, Deviercy, and Co., who had their business at 137 Pine Street in San Francisco. The obverse has an attractive, well-crafted Liberty head facing left, encircled by 13 stars. The reverse presents ‘CALIFORNIA GOLD’ near the rim outside of a wreath with berries. Within the wreath is ‘1 DOLLAR 1860.’

This piece is well-struck and shimmering. The beautiful prooflike fields and frosty devices set this specimen apart from the crowd. NGC has graded a total of 10 pieces with prooflike surfaces. Of those, there are 3 in MS65PL, with none finer, making this tied for the finest in prooflike. Period Two dollars are very scarce as a type when compared with their fractional counterparts.

How were such coins struck? Frontier, Deviercy & Co. had a German or French coin screw press from the 1830s. (The image of the screw press is above. Photo: Stacks January 2011 New York Americana Sale.) A detailed report in Coinweek.com explains the process:

Mechanically, this screw type press is operated by a long, hand-thrown centrifugal rod at the top, which causes a thick 2″ screw to be pressed down. As the screw presses down it pushes on a square shaped length of iron that moves up and down and imposes considerable force on the hammer die which is mounted at its base. An ingenious feature is the square shape of the iron driving rod, this mitigates the rotational force from the screw action that would otherwise torque the hammer die and cause uneven striking.

The direction of the hammer die is straight downward where it meets the planchet that is held in place by a collar and supported on the lower die, thus striking the impression into the planchet to create a coin.