| Description: |
Reeded edge. Bright yellow gold with reflective fields, frosty motifs, and a small
federal-style head of Liberty surrounded by 13 stars on the obverse. This variety is
considered by some to be the first of the California Small Denomination gold issues
(though BG-426 and 427 are also prime candidates). A popular early type that no doubt saw
circulation at the height of the Gold Rush, and is incredibly historic as a result.An
example of this type was recovered from the wreck of the S.S. Winfield Scott, a ship that
went down off the California coast on December 1, 1853; scuba divers in the early 1960s
brought up many Small Denomination gold coins from this wreck. This type was listed as
early as 1859 in The American Numismatical Manual by Dr. Montroville Wilson Dickeson.
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