Classification Confusion

California fractional gold is an often-overlooked area of U.S. numismatics. Even though these diminutive coins have been avidly collected for almost as long as they’ve existed, the series can be intimidating. The Breen-Gillio reference, California Pioneer Fractional Gold, is split into three sections: Period One (1852-57), Period Two (1858-82), and Period Three (1900-Unknown) with over 500 known varieties total. 

Period One examples were struck to be used as money in San Francisco at a time when small silver coins were scarce. After the San Francisco Mint began striking silver coins in 1855, their status as necessity money ended, and the jewelers who struck them seem to have continued producing fractionals because they were popular souvenirs. Because of this, many collectors limit themselves to Period One pieces.

My interest in California numismatics is well-known, so I’m often shown fractionals, some of which are rare and interesting. Recently, I encountered a common, run-of-the-mill Period One quarter that led me down a rabbit hole. The piece turned out to be much more interesting than its low Rarity-4 (150-200 examples known) rating would suggest. 

A Compelling Quarter

I’d been asked to examine a group of coins containing a handful of fractionals, and when I looked up an octagonal quarter with an 1856-dated reverse, I didn’t see it listed in the Period One section of my book. I checked the Period Two section and found a coin that shared its reverse die, attributed as BG-703A (shown)—a variety first discovered in 1984. Despite being dated 1856, it had been placed in Period Two because it shared an obverse with two Period Two fractionals: the unique BG-703, discovered in 1981 by Jay Roe, and the scarce BG-704, both of which have reverses dated 1859. 

I was excited by the discovery until I noticed the first page of the Period One section of my Breen-Gillio reference had fallen out and was stuck in the back of the book. On it, I found the variety I’d been looking for: BG-107, a common Period One quarter that shared its obverse with the first Period Two quarter listed in the reference, BG-701, and its reverse with the elusive BG-703A.

The fact that BG-703A shared a common 1856-dated reverse with a Period One fractional quarter struck me as odd. I reviewed auctions, PCGS CoinFacts, and Kagin’s private archives for images of every BG-107, -703, -703A, and -704 that I could find. After accumulating dozens of high-resolution images, it was obvious that the reverse shared by BG-107 and BG-703A was used to strike most (or all) of the BG-107s prior to the BG-703As; however, the emission sequence of the BG-703, BG-703A, and BG-704 was not so straightforward. 

Timeline Confusion

Surprisingly, given the nomenclature, the BG-703 was clearly struck after both the BG-703A and BG-704, as evidenced by a heavy die crack from around 4 to 6 o’clock on the obverse. The emission sequence of the BG-704 and 703A was not as easy to determine. However, due to die wear or polishing, certain details on the BG-703A were no longer visible on the BG-704. The very beginning of the die crack seen on the BG-703 was visible on BG-704, meaning that the BG-703A must have been struck first.

While this may seem like minutiae, the proposed emission sequence (BG-703A, BG-704, BG-703) raises an important question: why is BG-703 grouped into Period Two at all? Its reverse die is dated 1856, well within the date range for Period One, and although the obverse die for the BG-703A is found paired with 1859-dated reverse dies, the same can be said of the BG-107.

There’s some disagreement about the emission sequence for BG-703A and BG-704. While the high-resolution images I have been working from appear to be conclusive, I’d have to examine the coins in hand to be certain. The most recent Breen-Gillio reference describes the 703A as “somewhat less rusty than next [BG-704].” At present a new edition of the reference is being edited, and before it goes to print, it might make sense to review the status of the BG-703A to see whether it belongs in the Period One section after all.