Large Cent -JAMES A. GARFIELD 1869 MENTOR O

coinkat

So this is what we have... a worn large cent- likely from the 1830s, however it is worn so no date can be seen so it can not even be graded unless an expert could ID the coin by die variety but I doubt that is possible given the wear that literally obliterates much of the coin.

The interest is in the reverse- starting shortly before 9 o'clock and punched into the coin in capital letters and replacing UNITED STATES OF AMERICA with JAMES A. GARFIELD which ends just past 3 o'clock. At the bottom starting at about 7 o'clock and ending at about 4 o'clock is MENTOR O. Directly above that and direct below the remains of CENT is the year 1869

So the question is... what is it?

Before I posted this here, I attempted to complete some research. There was a series of events involving gold speculation in September of 1869. The so-called "Black Friday" event that transpired created a set of problems ranging from economic issues to legal and ethical issues for those involved. The Readers Digest super condensed version is that there was an issue with gold speculation and how the Grant Administration was attempting to reduce the Federal deficit. Garfield was in the House of Representatives and chaired the committee that investigated the gold panic of 1869.

I tend to doubt that this is a Presidential campaign token as there is simply no reference to the Office of President or the year of 1880. I doubt that it is a memorial piece created after Garfield was shot. So maybe it is one of these strange items created in 1869 shortly after this event and investigation blew over.

tokenpro

Not every engraved or counterstamp piece denotes something extraordinary or memorable on a national scale. Sometimes the simplest explanation fits the piece (see: razor, Occam's). James A. Garfield represented Ohio's 19th Congressional District in Congress from 1863 to 1880 before retiring to run for President. Mentor, Ohio is on Lake Erie in the 19th District. I would submit that a congressional election or simply commemorating a visit to the city on the lake is more plausible, especially if the counterstamp is composed of individual punches rather than a prepared die or dies.

NSP

His house is in Mentor, so maybe that’s a connection somehow. I’ve gotten to go on a tour of the house and it’s actually pretty nice. I believe that he delivered speeches from his front porch when he was campaigning for president.

ricko

Do you have a picture of the coin? That would be a big help when discussing it..... Cheers, RickO

coinkat

Thanks for the comments. Individual letter punches were more than likely used. A congressional campaign item is possible, however, 1869 would not have been an election year for an incumbent House member. I suppose it could be from 1870 or some year thereafter calling attention to his role in investigating the gold panic of 1869.

I don't have pictures