Copper 4 the Weekend

DCW · June 30, 2018 10:45AM

Starting the thread late, but let's roll anyway...
**Abraham Lincoln "He lived, for his country." JAB-W-14.
Ex. N. Musante **

Mule by Joseph H. Merriam and J.A. Bolen. Reportedly, only 5 were struck, but this is the only one I've ever seen. And that includes searching auction appearances in catalogs over the last 150 years. Merriam's Lincoln die was used extensively, but Bolen's "He Lived for His Country" is rare in itself. It appears to be intended for Bolen's Washington medal.
Large bisecting die crack is seen on the obverse, which is on all of the so-called "Woodward mules" named after the 19th century coin dealer, W. Elliot Woodward. In the early 1870s, dies from Merriam and Bolen were paired together and used to create rarities, usually to the tune of 3-5 struck.

cardinal · June 30, 2018 11:13AM

What a nice Bolen piece that is! Considering the obverse die break, the reverse is really hammered!

Have you ever seen Bolen's autograph? Going through my library, I found this:

DCW · June 30, 2018 11:17AM

Nice @cardinal !
So cool to have a personal artifact, (ie. autograph) from an iconic medalist like Bolen. I seem to remember some pieces from Bolen's personal collection which he autographed the envelopes or inked the tokens themselves.

cardinal · June 30, 2018 11:31AM

Thanks! Personal artifacts make for great "go with" pieces for a collection.

I also have this (though not copper), that is thought to have been created, inked, and framed by Bolen himself:

So much history, but it seemed to be ignored when it came to auction, and I got it cheap!

All that said, in keeping with your topic, here is my copper Bolen 1869 Store Card:

CWT1863 · June 30, 2018 2:55PM

OH 100B-2a. R4. PCGS MS-64 RB. Ex: Rossa & Tanenbaum and Q. David Bowers.

Broadstruck · June 30, 2018 3:36PM

1861-62 Henry Cook - Coin Dealer “Civil War” Store Card, Boston, Miller MA-BO19 / Fuld F-115Aa-1a, 43mm Copper Planchet, Dies by George H. Lovett.

This is one of only 4 copper examples which has come to market since 1989 and although examples struck in white metal are rated Rarity-8 in copper composition it's seen less frequently. Previously considered a U.S. Trade Token this has just been assigned a Fuld number F-115Aa-1a and is included as a new Civil War Token in the 2014 fall release of the new reference book on the series. This is the second example I've owned and is very visually pleasing with balanced slightly faded red proof-like surfaces and beautiful deep blue patina which appears when rotated under a light source.

The method of usage with store cards was that when any merchant gave change one was substituted in exchange of a penny. All other merchants would also accept them as face value of 1 cent and this was a good way to advertise at the time. However most all store cards were struck on cent sized planchets for ease of commerce, earlier ones the diameter of a large cent. By the time Cook had this struck other dealers such as John Curtis, Edward Cogan, William Idler, etc had switched to Indian Head Cent sized small cent store cards. So although Cook decided to go gigantic in diameter at 43mm these didn't function well for the advertisement route of store cards. It’s the largest of any merchant advertising cards ever stuck, as large is considered 32mm. Cook might have very well had a good amount of these re-melted as the copper weight far exceeded the face value intended.

Henry Cook who would become one of America’s first rare coin dealers was born in Maine in 1821, a seventh-generation Mayflower descendant. He moved to Boston when he was 16 years old and gained employment with a company in the export trade. At the age of 21 he was sent to South America to handle the firm’s interests on the west coast there. Later he served as mate aboard a sailing vessel which traded along that coast and with islands in the Pacific. By the 1840s he was an avid coin collector. In the 1850s he relinquished seafaring for the security of an on land occupation in Boston, and entered the boot and shoe trade at 74 Friend Street. He was fond of looking through copper half cents and cents in circulation and picking out scarce dates which he displayed in a counter in his shoe shop. It seems that he was active in the rare coin business by the mid-1850s. Circa 1861-62 he commissioned a selection of patriotic medals to be struck from his own designs with dies cut by George Hampton Lovett. Another smaller 28mm copper Cook store card exists muled with the reverse die from a circa 1850's Haviland Stevenson & Co. Druggists from Charleston, South Carolina, Miller SC-3. It was written about in the pages of The American Numismatic Journal in July 1889 and April 1892 by Horatio Storer who stated these had not been struck to the order or knowledge of Mr. Cook. In the September 1880 Jenks sale is was mentioned Mr. Cook has no information and never having heard of it before and it's believed that not more than two or three were struck. Now it isn't uncommon for merchants to have forgotten about their store cards as some Lyman Low interviewed couldn't provide any valuable information either. So this may very well be a tentative non completed prototype for a token design Mr. Cook rejected. In 1866 still located in his shoe shop with coins at 74 Friend Street, Cook advertised as “Numismatist and Antiquarian” rare and antique coins, medals, autographs, books, bought, sold and exchanged with cabinets arranged and cataloged for public sale in Boston or New York. Also purchases made at all the coin and book sales in either of the above mentioned cities on commission. On April 6 of the same year he was elected treasurer at the founding meeting of the New England Numismatic and Archaeological Society. In 1869 Cook issued a 12-page listing coin and medal circular containing a few remarks on the American series of Coins and Medals.