Impressive result for a Civil War dog tag at Heritage

DCW

I love Civil War Identification disc, or "dog tags" as they would later be called. As a former soldier, I can think of nothing more personal. Besides having your info stamped into it, they are always on you; silent witnesses to your experience in war.
I've seen this type before, but never imagined this realized price!
$13,750



I guess the info about the soldier it belonged to added to the excitement, as a Gettysburg veteran known to have participated (on the opposing end) of Pickett's Charge.
Still, it is almost 10x's what these normally go for.
What do you all think?

EXOJUNKIE

Not my area of expertise, but I always like to see exonumia bring strong prices (unless I’m bidding of course haha).

Very neat piece! Thanks for posting it.

BillJones

Here we go. Let’s advertise a lot before auction. If you own this, shame on you!

DCW

@BillJones

What are you talking about? The lot sold yesterday. I don't own it. Just making a thread on a piece I found interesting. Did you read what I wrote?

Jeez

pcgscacgold

@DCW said:
@BillJones

What are you talking about? The lot sold yesterday. I don't own it. Just making a thread on a piece I found interesting. Did you read what I wrote?

Jeez

I was confused by the comment as well. Not as active auction.....

BillJones

There is a similar lot in the current Heritage, so if I am wrong, my goof.

DCW

@BillJones said:
There is a similar lot in the current Heritage, so if I am wrong, my goof.

You ARE wrong, Bill. And I really don't like the fact that you jumped to such a conclusion about me. Even a cursory read of my post and you would have known that the lot wasn't active, regardless of a "similar lot." Kind of a lame excuse, but oh well. We all have our moments, I guess.
I was hoping someone had just hijacked your account 😆

SimpleCollector

DCW,

While I don’t collect this type of memorabilia, my two cents is that there is a new generation becoming interested in history. Just recently, two of my friends (both ex military) have started collecting and preserving items that interest them. While their items are limited to hundreds or low thousand of dollars, if the same interest peaks in different friends, then dropping $10k would not be an issue.

So I think what you may be seeing is either new blood entering and buying what they feel is significant items, or speculators betting that money will flow there.

Remember what happened with the sutler tokens during Hayden’s last auction.

BillJones

@DCW said:

@BillJones said:
There is a similar lot in the current Heritage, so if I am wrong, my goof.

You ARE wrong, Bill. And I really don't like the fact that you jumped to such a conclusion about me. Even a cursory read of my post and you would have known that the lot wasn't active, regardless of a "similar lot." Kind of a lame excuse, but oh well. We all have our moments, I guess.
I was hoping someone had just hijacked your account 😆

I try to be a good person, and you treat me like crap. I said “my goof” and you treat me like crap. If you succeed in getting me kicked off this site, congratulations.

amwldcoin

@BillJones said:
There is a similar lot in the current Heritage, so if I am wrong, my goof.

So you have your eye on the one coming up and were upset it was getting outside advertising?

Zoins

This part of @DCW's first post clued me into the fact the auction had concluded.

It seems like a pretty incredible result but I can understand growing demand as each of these are unique.

Here's the link and lot description:

https://historical.ha.com/itm/political/-/a/6251-43073.s

Heritage wrote:
[Civil War Era] Lincoln Gettysburg Veteran Dog Tag. 29mm, gilt brass medal. Bust of Lincoln facing right on obverse, inscribed: "Abraham Lincoln President, U.S. War of 1861." The reverse has a stamped inscription: "Robert H. Johnson/ Co. H/ 16th Regt./ Vt. Vols/ Cabot. Vt." Johnson was part of Stannard's Brigade which faced Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. Wear to highlights of bust, grades F/EF with traces of the original gilding, especially on the reverse. From The Collection of Dr. Blaine Houmes

BillJones

The $13,750 is way ahead of any previous selling price for this sort of item. If the one I saw sells for something similar, I’ll be out of the running well before then.

I bought a blank Civil War dog tag, which is listed in the DeWitt / Sullivan 19th century political items book, certified by PCGS, at the recent FUM show for $400. I have another one that a soldier had made for his sweetheart that I bought years ago for a similar price. I know the prices have gone up on these, but well into five figures seems extreme.

The blank dog tag

Vermont "sweetheart" dog tag

Zoins

This says it's from the collection of Dr. Blaine Houmes.

It looks like he passed away last year in 2021:

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/thegazette/name/blaine-houmes-obituary?id=13662443

He wrote lots of articles on Lincoln:

Here's a nice bio:

https://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/news/2009/02/

The University of Iowa Libraries wrote:
A Medical Look at the Lincoln Assassination

The next History of Medicine Society presentation will feature Dr. Blaine Houmes, Cedar Rapids Emergency Medicine Physician, who will speak on “Medical Aspects of the Lincoln Assassination.”

Dr. Houmes is known for his extensive knowledge of Abraham Lincoln and is an avid collector of Lincoln literature and artifacts. As an emergency medical physician he has a special interest in the medical events relating to Lincoln’s assassination. Dr. Houmes’ collection features prominently in the exhibit now on display at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in West Branch: “Abraham Lincoln: Three Collectors’ Perspectives”

Here are more articles:

1. http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/education/medical.htm
2. https://dailyiowan.com/2009/02/25/er-doctor-delves-into-lincoln-assassination/
3. http://civilwarrx.blogspot.com/2014/11/could-lincoln-have-survived-his-gunshot.html
4. https://blog.library.villanova.edu/2015/04/15/president-lincoln-assassinated-150-years-ago/
5. http://civilwarlibrarian.blogspot.com/2012/06/news-dr-charles-leales-long-lost.html

ricko

I like... and have collected... naval militaria. I guess veterans especially are attracted to this type of material. I do have my original dog tags, but they do not look like medals. Cheers, RickO

johnny9434

awesome interesting thread on dhe dog tags, i like

tokenpro

Four possible reasons why this piece exceeded both expectations and current price levels:

1. Two budding Lincoln collectors with more money than knowledge were drawn in by the overall breadth and quality of this collection and spotted something that struck a chord with both of them. After watching other items in the auction bring $$$, a Lincoln portrait/Gettysburg related item seemed reasonable at the price. Unbridled enthusiasm is often welcomed in the auction room.

2. Two relatives of the named soldier butted heads either knowingly or unknowingly going after great- or great-great- grandpa's identification tag. This happens much more often than you may think in the Internet age. It's happened somewhat often in my auctions of trade tokens ("that's from great-Uncle Fester's bar!") sometimes passing all sanity (low four figures for a $50 token) but not to this level. (The losing party ALWAYS emails and wants to know who won it and if I have another -- I can imagine some interesting family reunions when show and tell with photos and relics start.)

3. Two collectors of that particular regiment went all in, This is a distinct possibility as there are Civil War specialists every bit as crazed as super slab chasers. I collect items from one particular regiment only but two of my competitors have achingly deeper pockets and an ex-CEO mentality (they both were) that they take into their collecting pursuits. CW collectors can get seriously serious.

4. Two people came off their meds at the same time. Civil War I.D. tags sat at $400-600 for common states for years, then finally jumped to the +/- $1000 level. Then again with several auctions and private sales of sutler tokens in the $10,000-$14,000 range maybe this price isn't quite as outlandish as it seems at first blush. (Ya, no it is).

kaz

Tokenpro, I nominate that for POTY (so far!)