BG- 818, 1872 California Fractional Gold 25C, Washington Head Round PCGS MS65 R4-

Here’s a gem example of Frontier & Bellemere’s Gold 25c Washington Head Round. PCGS has graded 27 as MS65 with eight finer. Collectors Universe prices this variety at $2,850.00 in MS65.

What makes this variety quite different from the majority of California Fractional Gold pieces is that it features the image of George Washington upon it. The vast majority of Fractional Gold varieties have Lady Liberty or an Indian Head upon them. There are only a small handful of California Fractional Gold varieties that feature the Washington head.

The obverse presents the head of Washington facing to the left, surrounded by thirteen stars. Below is the date 1872. The reverse displays a wreath with berries tied with a ribbon at the bottom. Within the attractive wreath is “1/4 DOLLAR CAL.” For more specific information about this variety, please see below.

Portrait of George Washington in 1776 by Charles Wilson Peale. Brooklyn Museum. Image: Wikimedia Commons.

Don Kagin, the author of Private Gold Coins and Patterns of the United States (1981), explains how these coins were minted:

Most of the fractional coins were made by the hammer method.... This was a process of striking where the bottom die was placed on a block, a coin blank was laid upon it, and the top die upon the blank; this top die was then struck by a sledgehammer. Blows of varying intensity would cause portions of one side or edge to be more weakly struck than another.