California fractional gold coins are up for sale in Teletrade’s live auction this Sunday, June 22. As Teletrade aptly described the coins in a recent announcement, "these tiny enigmatic gold pieces are shrouded in historic controversy, celebrated by curiosity, and are sought-after favorites of many collectors."

These round or octagonal "Old West" gold pieces were privately issued in denominations of quarter-dollars, half-dollars and dollars. Early coins were essential in combating small change shortages, even though they were not minted by the government. And that is just a part of their unique history.

Teletrade’s Sunday auction includes more than 1,500 lots with 80 some coins from "The Kovach Collection," which is listed as the “3rd Finest Set of All Time” on the Professional Coin Grading Service Set Registry.

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IRVINE, Calif. – Teletrade, America’s largest fully automated Internet auction company for certified coins and currency, will auction “The Kovach Collection of Period One & Two California Fractional Gold” on Sunday, June 22, 2008, in online Auction 2546.

The auction will be live at www.teletrade.com from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. eastern time and will include more than 1,500 certified coin lots. The complete auction catalog will be viewable on the Teletrade website beginning Friday, June 13.

California Fractional Gold has a storied history complete with touches of controversy that only adds to the mystique. The tiny small denomination gold pieces were privately issued during the California Gold Rush economy, hand-struck mostly by entrepreneurial San Francisco jewelers, as a result of the Federal government’s unwillingness to issue sufficient small denomination coinage.

“The Kovach Collection” is listed as the “3rd Finest Set of All Time” on the PCGS Set Registry, retired in June 2007, and Teletrade will auction more than 75 coins from the set in individual lots. The collection represents Period One, struck 1852-1856, and Period Two, struck 1859-1882.

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