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Amazon Warrior Civil War Token in Silver F-160/218f - PCGS MS64!!
Windycity
Posts: 3,470 ✭✭✭✭✭
I posted this a few month ago as a raw coin... submitted to PCGS and here is the trueview Image. I have been unable find any information on other silver examples.
<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.mullencoins.com">Mullen Coins Website - Windycity Coin website
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WOW!
Top 10 Cal Fractional Type Set
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Wow, cool token!
Wow. That's fantastic!
--Severian the Lame
Since when did Amazon warriors carry an American flag. I'm sure its more like miss Liberty.
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Not certain the history but this obverse has been referred to as the Amazon warrior for many years.
These dies were made by John Marr who was a die maker from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The vast majority of Marr's work was merchant store cards. Patriotic tokens, like this one, are unusual. These are examples of "stock dies" which Marr paired with the custom die that he made for a specific merchant. For example, here is the storecard Marr issued for his own business, Mossin and Marr.
It has been suggested that pieces like the one in the OP were made for salesmen who were marketing Marr's tokens to merchants. They offered examples of what a stock die design looked like, if the merchant decided to use it for one side of his token. Since this piece is made of silver, it was probably struck for collectors.
"The naked Amazon" as this design is often called was inspired by the the painting "Liberty leading the people." There were a lot of failed revolutions in Europe in 1848. Many Europeans, like Marr, immigrated to the United States to avoid political persecution. This painting was a symbol of those revolutionary movements.
Bill, You are a wealth of good information. Thanks!!
This is only theory on my part, but I think the reverse with the eagle perched on a cannon was the one of Marr's "1864" stock dies. The Naked Amazon and another eagle were his "1863" designs. There are two minor variations of the 1863 eagle.
The "Liberty for All" design appearing sparingly. I think the reason is that the Union Government outlawed the use of Civil War tokens in April of 1864. He didn't get to use the new designs that much. The "America" in the middle of the wreath and stars was the other 1864 design.
Bill, Here is the same "Liberty For All" in silver. Again, just graded by PCGS.