BG- 306, 1854 California Gold Rush Circulating Fractional Gold 50C, Liberty Octagonal, NGC MS64+ R4

Rarity-4. Gold 50C Liberty Head Octagonal, initials FD on reverse. Period One - circulating issues between 1852 and 1856. Redbook Type: Large Liberty Head / Value in Beaded Circle. Made by Frontier-Deviercy.

This great Fractional Gold piece is priced to sell. NGC has graded 50 of this variety, with 1 in MS64+ with 3 finer. PCGS has graded 107 of the BG-306. They have 0 in MS64+ with 8 finer.

Close-up image of this variety courtesy of the PCGS Coin Facts website (example is graded PCGS MS64).

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 below.) 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.