PCGS Abroad

Earlier this year in February, PCGS had an onsite grading week in Paris. These events usually result in almost anything coming into the office for grading. To my surprise, one of the highlight coins from the show turned out to be a rare variety of a gold coin from California.

During the gold rush in California, many people traveled from around the world in hopes of striking it rich in the newly discovered gold fields of California. The abundance of newly discovered gold ushered in the need for this ore to be transformed into a currency for commerce. This cultivated an industry of entrepreneurs who filled this need and made money, literally and figuratively, making money. This period, called “Period One,” would result in the striking of three different gold denominations: 25 cents, 50 cents, and dollar coins. When it comes to varieties, there are about 145 different coins one could collect. Documented by Walter Breen and Ronald Gillio in their book California Pioneer Fractional Gold, these coins beckon collectors to assemble full sets of these intriguing and challenging varieties.

One such coin, a dollar dated 1853 and listed as BG-515, was submitted for grading in Paris. Known as a “DERI” dollar, these coins differ from other issues, with the coiner using his abbreviated name on his coins. The minter, known as M. Deriberpie, is believed to have been in San Francisco for about a year and a half. It is thought that he likely came from France to California in an attempt to strike it rich. His first coinage was dated 1852 and 1853, and they were half dollar gold pieces with the initials D.N. on the coins that Deriberpie and Antoine Nouizillet had made. He went on to build his own business in 1853 with a single press striking dollars bearing his abbreviated name, and dated 1853 and 1854. On April 12, 1853, Deriberpie, along with other coiners Nouizillet and Isadore Routhier, were arrested for counterfeiting dollar coins. The dollars made by M. Deriberpie contained about 30% less gold than those of an official United States gold dollar coin. M. Deriberpie disappeared from San Francisco records in 1853, and it is currently unknown what happened to him.

The variety that was submitted in Paris was that of BG-515. This variety is one of 16 combinations of M. Deriberpie gold dollars. It is one of two in “Group 1” with no stars flanking “DERI.” It differs from the BG-514 variety with a different obverse die. BG-515 comes in two different die states: a “Perfect Die” state I, to which this coin belongs, and a second later die state with die cracks through the obverse stars and a die break under the “DE” of “DERI.” This variety was first noted in the 1950s and has been scarce ever since, with only a handful of examples known; prior to this example, only two had been graded by PCGS, with one being an MS61 and the other an MS62 that resided in the Jay Roe Collection. None are noted elsewhere. This example that was submitted in Paris was graded by PCGS as an MS64, making it the finest example certified.

As a numismatist studying this coin in Paris, I had to wonder if M. Deriberpie’s story, which abruptly ended in San Francisco by 1854, may have continued in France afterward. For a California fractional gold coin of his to end up in France is unusual – but maybe it’s just a coincidence.