Last night, I bought a unicorn for $1500...

DCW

...of the numismatic type!
I went all in at Stack's to put this piece into my collection of Joseph Merriam tokens and medals. I almost certainly overpaid, but sometimes life gives you but one shot in this hobby. And, it's lovely!
This is Merriam's famous Abraham Lincoln die muled with Bolen's "He Lived for His Country" reverse. Many mulings between the two die sinkers took place after the Civil War and auctioned by Elliot Woodward in the 1870s. To my knowledge, all mules struck using the Lincoln die show this distinctive die crack bisecting the entire obverse.
This is one of those medals of which I've heard existed but never seen. It's been referenced in print, but I always assumed it was in error as Bolen has a Lincoln die with this same reverse. Mythical in my mind, but it's real. And here it is:
NGC MS65 (ex. Schenkman, Musante.)


Thanks for looking!

bolivarshagnasty

Congrats on a neat addition!

Broadstruck

Looks more like you bought a lighting bolt

Cool piece, what token was the reverse die generally used on?

I've got a bad head cold and right now having seen the reverse design before isn't ringing any bells.

DCW

I believe Bolen generally used this reverse on his Washington portrait

DCW

Here is some more info on the reverse die, this one used on a Washington obverse die of Bolen:

It's from a friend's collection over at Medals4Trade.com
(Oddly enough, none of these medals are available for trade!)

Broadstruck

Thanks for the additional info!

AUandAG

That is so cool, I'm envious!

bob

Treashunt

congrats!

EXOJUNKIE

Gorgeous! Congratulations on what is probably a once-in-a-lifetime purchase. You won't regret it!

divecchia

Congrats, on a once in a lifetime purchase!!!

Donato

SeattleSlammer

That’s very cool, with real eye appeal, too.

ricko

Congratulations... that is a real beauty.... Cheers, RickO

ldhair

Really nice. Thanks for sharing.

Zoins

Congrats on this wonderful piece and making progress with your Merriam collection!

Any idea who owned the pieces in the Elliot Woodward auction? Might be interesting to know who made the mules.

DCW

@Zoins said:
Congrats on this wonderful piece and making progress with your Merriam collection!

Any idea who owned the pieces in the Elliot Woodward auction? Might be interesting to know who made the mules.

Thanks, Zoins! The collection has made real progress this year.
We know that noted collector A. Ramsey McCoy owned the dies, and that limited quantities of these mules were struck post war and auctioned by Woodward. They're all rare in the most literal sense of the word. Perhaps 3-5 struck. As to who owned this particular piece at the time of Woodward's auction? This is anyone's guess. It's provenance is known only as Gabriele-Musante-Schenkman.
As I said above, this is the very first one I've seen. Thrilled to add it to my collection at any cost.

coinsarefun

What a fantastic piece to add to your collection, congrats!
I have not seen that reverse before, thanks for posting.

Hydrant

Interesting.

Boosibri

Very cool!

DCW

Man, I CANNOT believe I've owned this piece for 7 years. Just going through some old threads and came across my old thread (which feels like 6 months ago.)
Still have never seen another

TheGoonies1985

Congrats great piece of history!!!

Creg

It’s still sweet.

WQuarterFreddie

@DCW said:
Man, I CANNOT believe I've owned this piece for 7 years. Just going through some old threads and came across my old thread (which feels like 6 months ago.)
Still have never seen another

Congratulations! Curious to know if you still feel you paid too much for it.🤔

Either way, proud of you for pulling the trigger knowing you were overpaying for it. Sometimes you have to just go for it!

No regrets, no more time and money spent looking for it again and most importantly no negative feelings of should've, would've could've!😂🤣

pruebas

A very pretty unicorn! And if you’re still happy with it after all these years, it was a great purchase.

DCW

Still very happy with it, and I'm sure it held its value. 7 years and not a single other available, so that is something to be said.
In exonumia, you often have to overpay for the rare stuff. It evens out when you grab something on the cheap that fell through the cracks.

RobertScotLover

You cannot beat that, glad you won it and still own it

ProofCollection

Cool error! Is there a version without the comma?

thebeav

It's beautiful !