Jennifer S. writes: I am interested in knowing where this coin came about and the worth of it. I believe it is very rare. This came from my family’s rather large gold coin collection but I did not find it with the collection. If you could give me some idea as to either its worth or how to find out it’s worth. The only thing I have found is that it is a rare piece. Thanks Jen
This is a copper reproduction of a Baldwin $20 gold piece. Baldwin & Company was one of the jewelry companies in the San Francisco area that produced coins during the early days of the California Gold Rush (c.1849-1857). Baldwin & Co. bought their minting equipment from Kohler & Co., an assaying company, in May of 1850. California in 1849 was part of the large area of what is now the United States Southwest that had been recently ceded from Mexico. There was no coins for commerce, no United States Mint and national paper money wouldn’t come in to existence until 1861. Even then, paper wouldn’t be readily as acceptable as coins for almost half a century into the future.
When large quantities of gold were discovered, a huge migration of people gathered in California to search for the yellow metal.
Goods and services were a great business to be in but for merchants, receiving payment was haphazard and consisted of Spanish 8 reales, 8 escudos, gold dust and some Federal coins. Local minters supplied coins of guaranteed weight and of specific value. They made their money on a small amount of seignorage, that is, payment by making the coins gold content slightly less than the face value.
Not only were high denomination coins struck but many jewelers struck fractional gold coins, that is coins with denominations of less than one dollar.
Because of the historical reference, California gold coins from any of the private minters are highly sought after and are quite valuable. Only a small quantity remain and, in some cases, examples are unique.
Baldwin & Company’s $20 gold pieces were the first coin with that denomination struck in California. Average circulated Baldwin $20 gold pieces can bring more than $80,000 when offered for sale at auction. However, only genuine coins are valuable. The image that you sent along with your message is of a cast replica in base metal. This copy was not made to deceive, the design work is too crude for that, and it isn’t struck on a gold planchet but it makes a very good “museum” souvenir to show students of the era the coin’s approximate design.