One of the rarest and most enigmatic issues in the history of American coinage
1630Boston
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[From the Newman Numismatic Portal at Washington University in St. Louis]
1861 50C Original Confederate States of America Half Dollar
As numismatist L.L. Wilson wrote in 1915,
the Confederate half dollar represents:
"The only Numismatic Record of a nation of nine million people who maintained a precarious existence for the space of nearly four years and a half."
There are very few coins today that can be said to rank in interest with this half dollar,
with its U.S. obverse and distinctive Confederate States reverse designs.
Such a unique combination of the official devices of two great opposing powers probably has not another parallel in history.
more info here, if interested, from the NNM:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/ImageDetail/558397
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Comments
They should all be put in a museum as examples of when inbreds think they know how to government.
Seriously rare, interesting and tragic all at the same time. The danger is the section of the country who sympathizes with the cause and thinks they get decide who are real Americans.
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
Now that's a dangerous post! Keep an eye over your shoulder for a hammer coming at you!
@Crypto, you need to take the politics out of this thread.
@1630 Boston took the time to post a numismatic thread and it isn't fair to him or the others here to hijack the thread and risk it being deleted.
Here is a nice example of the Scott Restrike, which is the piece closest to the real thing that most any of us can afford.
For those who might not know the story, the Chief Coiner at the New Orleans Mint kept the Confederate die for a number of years. Finally he announced that he had it along with one of the original coins. He sold the die and the coin. The die eventually made its way to Scott Coin and Stamp Company. They purchased 500 1861-O half dollars, planed off the reverses and used the Confederate die to strike the image on the reverse.
Prior to the striking of the 500 Confederate Restrike half dollars, they made these medals. These pieces were struck on soft white metal. The concern was that the fragile Confederate die might break when it was used on silver.
Thanks for getting us back on track, Bill.
A truly unique coin and very interesting article linked. I wonder why only four were coined. Seems like as long as they were doing it, some larger quantity would have been made. Obviously not though, since the accounts are in agreement as to quantity and generally, disbursement. A real historical treasure. Cheers, RickO
@Crypto: Speaking as a southern born "inbred" I certainly know the difference between "how to govern" and the woefully incorrect "how to government "
They were presentation pieces, not for commerce. From this perspective, they seem to be patterns, not regular issue coins. The four proof specimens were given to:
The Memminger and Riddell Specimens are graded NGC PF40 while the Davis Specimen is graded NGC PF30.
Here's a photo of the Memminger-Newcomer-Green-Newman specimen.
More at:
https://coinweek.com/education/coin-grading/ngc/confederate-half-dollar-ngc-certifies-eric-p-newman-collection-part-9/
Great info @Zoins , thanks
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They struck four as a pattern. I'm guessing the CSA initially had enough coin in stock and later decided to not produce any due to the hoarding of hard money going on which was also happening up north. The CSA later produced a 50 cent note.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
This was nothing more than a proposal for a coinage, like any other pattern. Therefore the mintage was low and limited to the New Orleans Chief Coiner and high government officials.
There were no great coin die makers in the South. The Confederate die that was used here probably would not have stood up to striking coins for very long. If you look at the coin in OP, the metal flow was off, which resulted in weakness in the center of the coin.
@PerryHall... Good point. @BillJones Good input, and probably thought they would be doing more. Cheers, RickO
Always found it comical that a thread about a political coin, born out of an American political event, being discussed in a political sense is off limits. It's history. Learning something new is a good thing.
What are we, six?
What I'd like to know is: was the coin struck from a used planchet or did the south make their own. If they intended to make their own coinage seems 4 coins is not enough.
Well, many consider the Lovett Confederate Cent to be the other coin.
Here's the census from HA:
This shows a different provenance different from the CoinWeek article above.
The HA census indicates the Memminger and Davis specimens are the same.
Here's the specimen owned by:
I learned something today!
It interests me because Memminger and Trenholm were Charleston SC residents.
Trenholm was the defacto arm of the import/export business for the CSA.
Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind was modeled after Trenholm.
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Here's a good history on this coin from John Milton.
The die was done by A. H. M. Patterson.
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/a-history-of-the-confederate-half-dollar.337110/
It seems like the Newman slab doesn't exist anymore.
This is now the only PCGS slabbed specimen.
Great examples @BillJones
Here are some later restrikes made by August Frank:
.
.
"To Hon. Marcus J. Wright: "Dear Sir: Your favor requesting a statement of the history of the New Orleans Mint, in reference to the coinage under the Confederate government, is received. "That institution was turned over by the State of Louisiana the last of February, 1861, to the Confederate States of America, the old officers being retained and confirmed by the government, viz.: Wm. A. Elmore, Superintendent; A.J. Guirot, Treasurer; M.F. Bonzano, M.D., Melter and Refiner; and Howard Millspaugh, Assayer. "In the month of April orders were issued by Mr. Memminger, Secretary of the Treasury, to the effect that designs for half-dollar coins should be submitted to him for approval. "Among several sent, the one approved bore on the obverse of the coin a representation of the Goddess of Liberty, surrounded by thirteen stars, denoting the thirteen States from whence the Confederacy sprung, and on the lower rim the figures 1861. "On the reverse there is a shield with seven stars, representing the seceding States; above the shield is a liberty cap, and entwined around it stalks of sugar cane and cotton. The inscription is: 'CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA.' The dies were engraved by A.H.M. Patterson, engraver and die sinker, who is now living in Commercial Place. They were prepared for the coining press by Conrad Schmidt, foreman of the coining room (who is still living), from which four pieces only were struck. "About this period an order came from the Secretary suspending operations on account of the difficulty of obtaining bullion, and the Mint was closed April 30, 1861.
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It's amazing that only 1 out of 4 is in a "museum", the ANS specimen.
More 1913 Liberty nickels are in museums!
Fantastic Civil War thread, learned a bunch today
The following is a pretty amazing statistic.
In the Confederacy, out of the 9M people, 3.5M or 40% of the population were enslaved. Imagine walking around a town where 40% of the people were enslaved.
I'm guessing this coin didn't represent the 3.5M slaves and so only represented the 5.5M non-slaves.
https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/facts.htm
You may be on to something here Crypto. I meet inbreds all the time who, as you say, "think they know how to government." They're actually quite annoying but the worst part about them is that their grammar is atrocious!
Thank you 1630Boston.
The circulation wear is interesting as well.
A numismatic remembrance of a sad and tragic period in American History.
It's curious the Newman coin acquired a CAC sticker before being auctioned November, 2017. Since there are only four known specimens, all about the same grade (VF-XF), how much extra value did the CAC sticker provide to the seller and buyer in this transaction? I can see the point of CAC stickering when selling an item of which there are many, and you want to let buyers know your example is among the better ones for the grade, but not in this instance.
In other words, this coin speaks for itself, and it's value would seem to me independent of a third party's opinion of grade (and even less so a fourth party's opinion of the third party's assigned grade).
Amazing piece of history. High on my want list (after winning the lottery, of course.)
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Found this yesterday I'm sure it's probably not real but I was glad to find it.
A rare piece of U.S. history. I don't believe in trying to sanitize history. Tell the story, the lessons learn and try to do better. The war was fought for a variety of reasons and this coin is a reminder of just how serious the split was between North and South.
Your wit is as cutting as your point. Anyone who thinks pointing out a grammatical inaccuracy that was tongue-in-cheek aligned with hillbilly, is really just self identifying and letting the point fly over their head.
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
What a pity that some people here have ZERO self control.
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