What is the value of an 1851 Baldwin 20 dollar gold piece?

Answer 1

IF the coin were genuine it would be worth many thousands of dollars depending on its condition. However there are only a few genuine 1851 Baldwin $20 gold coins known. All others are copies, replicas, or outright fakes. Any such copy made after 1972 would be legally required to have the word COPY worked into the design somewhere but that doesn't apply to huge numbers made before that date.

Baldwin & Holman were a private refining and smelting company in San Francisco, formed to process gold found during the gold rush that started in 1849. At that time there were no federal mints west of New Orleans which made for enormous difficulties in transporting coins to the growing population of California. To relieve the resulting shortages many private firms minted their own coins. Reputable ones like Baldwin stood behind their products' values but a lot of others didn't. Some of those competitors started rumors that Baldwin's coins were underweight. They weren't, but the damage had been done. 99% of all Baldwin pieces were bought by speculators and melted, so those that remain are extremely rare.