Does anyone have or collect copperhead pins?
DMWJR
Posts: 6,020 ✭✭✭✭✭
From the civil war, those who very much opposed war, and thought resolution could be had without it. They cut Liberty out of a penny and wore it on their lapel to identify each other and make a statement.
Doug
6
Comments
Never heard that story, cool. Forgot something earlier today and now this just took it's place!
bob
Wonder if @ThePennyLady has any or has he read of them. I know I haven't.
Here are a couple of copperhead pins. The first is a stick pin. It was made from a cut down Matron Head large cent.
Here a second one that had a pin on the back at one time. It was made from a cutdown Braided Hair large cent.
The reverse.
I had not seen one made from an Indian Cent before although it is perfectly logical that they were made.
One of the largest copperhead organizations was the Sons of Liberty who wore these pins which had the Head of Liberty on them.
Those are pretty neat.
BST transactions: dbldie55, jayPem, 78saen, UltraHighRelief, nibanny, liefgold, FallGuy, lkeigwin, mbogoman, Sandman70gt, keets, joeykoins, ianrussell (@GC), EagleEye, ThePennyLady, GRANDAM, Ilikecolor, Gluggo, okiedude, Voyageur, LJenkins11, fastfreddie, ms70, pursuitofliberty, ZoidMeister,Coin Finder, GotTheBug, edwardjulio, Coinnmore, Nickpatton, Namvet69,...
We can always count on Bill Jones to provide additional historic information and some nice examples of whatever is being discussed. Thanks to Bill and the OP for educating many of us on this obscure area of collecting.
How did they cut those ?
Probably something like whittling linked chains from a solid block of wood when I was a kid on the dairy farm
If you have enough time you can do anything.
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb, Ricko
Bad transactions with : nobody to date
they used a Dremel
Don't quote me on that.
I was not aware of these.... I will watch the local antique shops for a specimen.... Good bit of history, thanks Bill.
Cheers, RickO
I have never heard of these.
Seems like cutting down a half cent would have worked just as well.
"Does anyone collect copperhead pins?"
I do now, thanks to you. If I ever come across any I will pick them up if reasonably priced, and my guess is that most go unattributed for what they are.
It amazes me that back then when a cent was really worth something they were still willing to cut one up like this. Sort of like early elongated coins, such as nickels from the World's Columbian Exposition - someone went without a cigar or a haircut in order to get that souvenir.
thats the first ive seen of them. its kinda cool to see it to
I have never seen that before. Very interesting!
Fan of the Oxford Comma
CCAC Representative of the General Public
2021 Young Numismatist of the Year
Thanks Bill. Yes, it is a pretty cool story. Not everyone in the north was all fired up about making war with the south. In fact, there was talk of NYC seceding from the Union, although not much came of it.
One of things I love most about collecting coins, is coupling it with American history.
Very interesting story. I had never heard of this. Thanks for sharing.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
Slavery was going out of fashion across Russia and Europe and it was only a matter of time before it would have most likely been resolved in the states. Was the war necessary? We will really never know. The South was destined to lose from the beginning. (I'm from and live in the deep south). The north was busy inventing things, and manufacturing things (a lot for the war), so there were a lot of jobs and good paying ones at that. Some folks in NYC didn't like the large influx of immigrants and freed blacks competing for these good jobs, and they paid better than the army for sure. They weren't necessarily true copperhead idealists, but they had more practical reasons for opposing the war. (This group probably didn't have lapels to put pins on anyway, lol)
Had it not been for the election of man like Abraham Lincoln, I'm not sure that would have been true. If the president elected in 1860 had been as weak as Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan, the South could have gone its own way almost in peace. Both of those presidents had a decided pro-southern slant.
Lincoln close to throwing in the towel in the summer of 1862. The Union Government was bankrupt and had no "real money" like gold. General McClellan had typhoid fever and ultimately proved not have much of a stomach for fighting in any case. At the White House, Lincoln’s favorite son, Willie, had died and Mary Lincoln had had a nervous breakdown and was living up to her nickname, “the hellcat.” Life at home could not have been pleasant for him. No wonder he said that “The bottom is out of the tub!” Yet, Lincoln held on with considerable political opposition from both the left (radical Republicans) and the right (most Democrats) and held the Union cause together.
Cool, thanks for sharing !!!
Here are some pro-Southern Civil War tokens that passed as cents.
Wealth of th!e South
These "copperhead" CWTs were made in the North.
"The Horrors of War, The blessings of peace"
"Peace Forever"
"Millions for Contractors, Not One Cent for the Widows"
"Live and Let Live"
Neat stuff guys !
I agree BillJones, and McClellan was a ninny who wouldn't make a move. Lincoln should have sent him to Minnesota or some other remote place. I tend to agree with Shelby Foote though, that given the size of the population of the North, if the South had made any more progress, the rest of the able Northerners would have jumped in and that would have been the end of that. For many in the north, the war was a distraction. It didn't affect them daily.
ThePennyLady is a she.
Hence the "Lady" part of the name.
It was auto correct. Meant to say "or has she heard of them"... of course I know Charmy is a girl.
This is fascinating! I have some cut out cents, but not Civil War era and not with Liberty fully cut out like these. Even with all my penny exonumia interests and research, I never heard about these and the background story. Thanks for sharing!
The Penny Lady®
Or a laser.
Here's one with the outer part of the coin. Can't prove it is contemporary though.
Very Cool!!
Is there a contemporary reference or newspaper article about these coin pins?
The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
Coins in Movies
Coins on Television
@WillieBoyd2, Did a google books search and this popped up near the top.
I haven't researched of fact checked it, but this is an interesting read, which could lead to some interesting research.
en.metapedia.org/wiki/Copperheads_(American_Civil_War)
Many thanks for this thread and the history....
Thank you AngryTurtle for the Cornell College pin article.
The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
Coins in Movies
Coins on Television