Card Identification Forum

So i purchased what I thought was a Nomar Garciaparra 1998 Pinnacle Mint Gold parallel. When I recieved the card it was die-cut with one of the mint coins.  Need help understanding if this card is actually the "Coins Gold Plated" insert.

This is what the Mint Gold parallel looks like.

What you have there is the base card from the set as well as the bronze coin that someone put inside the base card.

Here's the Nomar one

The coin doesn't protrude through the back on that one.

Thanks for the feedback. I have seen other examples of the die-cut coins for other players but they are all over the place as to what they are called.

The base cards are the die-cut cards, and the coins could slot into those if you wanted. So you have:

1. This Nomar base card and
2. This Bronze coin (the Gold coins are rare)

I'm a little confused about the parallels. Do they also "hold" the coins? (only showing one side of the actual coin) Or are they just all card? (NO coin "inserted" in the frame/card holder)

If I'm understanding what you're asking correctly, no, none of the parallels are die-cut. The base cards all have the coin-sized die-cut holes, and then the parallel cards (Bronze, Silver, and Gold) are NOT die-cut and instead have coin-like foil on the cards where the holes would be. And then the actual coins themselves are separate. Does that make sense?

Thanks for all the info. I'm contacting the seller. I paid for the gold parallel and obviously didn't get it.  First time I've dealt with this seller so hopefully it won't be a hassle. 

Check out the back pictures of the coins in the Racing set.  They will give you an idea of the kinds of markings you are looking for to distinguish the different parallel versions of the coins.  The base brass coin and the nickel-silver parallel both have the same back design, but any of the gold plate and artist proof parallels have additional wording on the back above the Pinnacle Mint logo to distinguish them from each other.  

If you are only interested in the cards, the parallels have the "Silver Mint Team" and "Gold Mint Team" wording on the front around the foil imprint.

-Tom

The 1998 Pinnacle Mint doesn't have any distinguishing mark that lets you know its gold plated. That coin in the picture could be the gold plated. The only way to really tell what you have with the 98 Mint is to just know the difference between bronze and gold, or to have them both in hand.