Options
"My Life Preserver": The Coolest Civil War Double Eagle?
Zoins
Posts: 34,486 ✭✭✭✭✭
I have to say this is probably one of the coolest, if not the coolest, Civil War Double Eagle I've come across (on CNN.com now). We don't have to imagine as much about what this coin went through during the Civil War!
<< <i>Lt. George Dixon, according to legend, received this coin as a good-luck charm from his beloved, said to be from Mobile, Alabama. It was bent by a bullet when he was wounded at the Battle of Shiloh, two years before the Hunley made history. He had it engraved and carried it the rest of his life. It was found with his remains by Hunley Project scientists. >>
<< <i>Lt. George Dixon, according to legend, received this coin as a good-luck charm from his beloved, said to be from Mobile, Alabama. It was bent by a bullet when he was wounded at the Battle of Shiloh, two years before the Hunley made history. He had it engraved and carried it the rest of his life. It was found with his remains by Hunley Project scientists. >>
0
Comments
...this story was way cool when I read it...it may have already been posted here, but it's cool enough to post again
Erik
Grafitti
The coin is credited with saving his leg after being shot at point blank range. Very cool story.
Here's a photo:
<< <i>That's one of the most amazing pieces of numismatic history I've ever seen. >>
+100
<< <i>ED
Grafitti >>
Damaged
Priceless
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
<< <i>Ironically, he would have made it to the surface except for being weighted down by the double eagle.
Maybe the extra weight of the coin dragged the whole sub to the bottom ... OK, so it didn't.
The full article has some interesting information I had not heard before.
1. The sub attacked on the surface (not unusual for a submarine attack even much later) and was spotted and fired upon before reaching the ship.
2. The sub was only about twenty feet from the ship when its "torpedo" (actually an explosive charge attached to a spar) exploded.
3. There was apparently no escape attempt by the crew. They died at or near their stations.
4. One of the hatches was not properly sealed.
The article says they don't know just what happened. My guess:
The crew was knocked unconscious by the force of the blast, which was only twenty feet away. The faulty hatch allowed water to enter the sub causing it to sink. The "blue signal light" seen on shore didn't come from the sub as it apparently didn't have a blue signal light. It probably came from a rescue ship.
Only five Federal sailors were killed vs. the eight Confederate sailors who died in the sub.
One of the coolest coin stories, that actually was proved to be true fairly recently.
That double eagle deserves to be in a museum. Its numismatic value is nil.
<< <i>The Union fleet was well aware of the Hunley's danger -- to its own occupants.
Five members of the first crew died in August 1863 when it accidentally dived while its hatches apparently were open. The second crew's eight members succumbed in October when the Hunley failed to return to the surface.[...]
Still, those who volunteered for the mission against the 205-foot USS Housatonic must have been well aware of the perils when approached by Hunley skipper Lt. George Dixon.
"This took some serious bravery here. I wouldn't want to go in there," says forensic genealogist Linda Abrams, who has conducted extensive research on the Hunley crew. "They know some other people had drowned in it. They had to have some faith in Dixon." >>
<< <i>Hmmm... I hate to say this, but that does not look like a coin that was struck by a bullet. I would think a gold coin would show far more damage from such a tremendous impact. >>
I agree the coin doesn't look like it was shot with a bullet embedded in it as the story goes. Digging further, I found this link:
Is George E. Dixons Gold Coin Fake?
Of interest:
- Maria Jacobsen finds the coin after promising to find it to Queenie's great grand-daughter
- There's no record of a story of the Dixon coin until 1904
- The Shiloh story is that the coin was bent and the bullet was embedded in it
So is this story a hoax and is the coin a fabrication? What do you think?
Is this another Washington Nugget - which apparently I found a lot of articles on back in 2011.
The exhibit is definitely worth the time if you're in Charleston. While you're there, the trips to Fort Sumter and Moultrie are definelty worth the time as well.
Many successful BST transactions with dozens of board members, references on request.
<< <i>As the story goes, it was struck by a musket ball, not a bullet, while in his pants pocket. >>
I agree a musket ball is significantly different from a bullet. However, the force delivered by a musket ball at "point blank" is huge and still should have destroyed that coin. I remember shooting a musket ball from a flint lock into a tree many years ago and was astonished by it's power.
S&T
The Hunley was a deathrap and I am amazed that those men would set foot in it. Heck, it killed Hunley himself! I remember watching an episode of "American Heritage" (60's TV show) and being transfixed by the story.
<< <i>
<< <i>Hmmm... I hate to say this, but that does not look like a coin that was struck by a bullet. I would think a gold coin would show far more damage from such a tremendous impact. >>
Perhaps it was hammered flat, with a wood block protecting the coin, prior to the engraving. >>
The pure lead bullets of this era are much softer than the 900 fine gold alloyed with copper used to make gold coins. As previously stated it appears this coin deflected some projectile that struck the double eagle at an angle. During this time period even a minor flesh wound could prove to be fatal due to infection and blood loss.
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
<< <i>Considering force= mass x acceleration: if the point blank-ness was truly point blank and the projectile was still in the act of accelerating the force would be lessened. >>
I think you mean deaccelerating. Once a projectile leaves a gun, the projectile immediately starts to slow down due to air resistance.
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
<< <i>The angle at which the coin was struck would be very important regarding its ability to deflect the shot. >>
Agree---looks like it hit at a fairly acute angle from the way the coin is bent.
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