CSA Half - Love Token/Engraved
jmcu12
Posts: 2,452 ✭✭✭
I won this on Ebay recently and I just find it very intriguing. I believe it to be authentic, the coin itself anyway. As far as the engraving part, I suppose it is hard to say when it was done or for what reason.
These are the sellers images. The coin is much brighter than this but their pictures are better at showing the engraving than mine were.
The Die crack, while you cannot see it run to the denticles, you can see it at the bridge of the nose and underneath the chin.
What I find interesting as well is the notes from the auction that the seller placed while it was on-going.
So it sounds like someone reached out to this person and told him it was suspicious at best, if not fake perhaps? As I said above I believe it to be a real CSA half, the diagnostics agree, and I have x-rayed it as well and it is correct.
What do you think?
These are the sellers images. The coin is much brighter than this but their pictures are better at showing the engraving than mine were.
The Die crack, while you cannot see it run to the denticles, you can see it at the bridge of the nose and underneath the chin.
What I find interesting as well is the notes from the auction that the seller placed while it was on-going.
This well worn coin was pierced for hanging (used as a watch fob?), privately engraved and was probably worn by the CSA Veteran whose name appears on it. On the obverse circling the eagle is engraved "A. B. P. Vuirin Second Mississippi Vols.". Below the eagle is engraved or stamped C.S.A. If this piece could talk what an interesting tale it would tell.
It has been brought to my attention that my title may be misleading. I did not intend to infer the coin was struck by the Confederacy. The "CSA" was either struck or engraved. Hard to tell.
This is a fantasy coin. It tests coin silver, is the right size and weight of the original coin but it was not engraved during the civil war or carried by a soldier for a dog tag. It is still a collectible coin.
So it sounds like someone reached out to this person and told him it was suspicious at best, if not fake perhaps? As I said above I believe it to be a real CSA half, the diagnostics agree, and I have x-rayed it as well and it is correct.
What do you think?
Awarded latest "YOU SUCK!": June 11, 2014
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"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'd like to be wrong cause it would awesome to have the original deal.
One of the strongest indications of a fake disc is their extreme and uneven wear. If the discs were actually made during the Civil War, the coins could have been only two or three years old at the time of engraving, still relatively new for a metal coin. Yet the coins found with the engraved names exhibit the equivalent of many, many years of heavy use normally found on coins. circulated in daily commerce. If the coins were actually used as ID discs and worn by a neck chain or carried as a pocket piece, there should be relatively little wear. Extreme wear is inconsistent with their purported original use which would have kept the relatively new coins in good condition.
Engravings on the fake discs are relatively well done and appear similar to period work. One clue that the engraving might be new is that authentic ID discs are almost always engraved with the letters “CS,” not the letters “CSA,” which are on the fakes. Similar faked coins have also been engraved with the names of founders of the Ku Klux Klan. Authentic Klan items are of interest to Civil War collectors because of the connection with Southern soldiers.
According to Nancy Rossbacher, managing editor of North South Trader’s Civil War Magazine, all the names found on the fake ID discs are of soldiers who actually existed. Dorsey Pender, for example, eventually reached general’s rank. He died of a wound received in the second day’s ghting at Gettysburg. Other names on the new coin ID discs include Col. Joseph Mayo, Jr., Robert F. Bunting of the 8th Texas Cavalry, James B. Washington and A.L.P Vairin. So far only ID discs related to Confederate forces have been reported. No discs have been reported with Union soldiers’ names or Federal units. In addition to silver dollars, fake ID discs have also been made in the shape of silver half-dollars.
Does the OP have the gumption to tell us how much he paid for this thing?
eBay, closed auctions was $63
Yep $63. I figure for $63 I either get lucky or learn a very cheap lesson. Even if the engraving is spurious I think that the coin itself has a decent chance of being real.
But for $63, again, if nothing else I am not out much.
And I had a busy weekend so I did not have a lot of time to get pictures of the edge. Perhaps tonight.
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/coins/447900-csa-counter-stamped-seated-half-dollar.html
Plus another
http://www.relicman.com/fakes/zfakeIdentify.htm
I had my piece looked at by Brian Greer and he opined that the coin itself is authentic. And a CSA half to boot!
Yes the engraving is not period but I can live with that. And at only $63 I feel I scored a decent coin.
It was quickly pointed out to be fake and IIRC some of those who pointed that out were on these forums. So I was able to take down the auction and avoid further embarrassment and hassle.
Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.
Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.
But it seems likely that once the weight, metallic composition, and known die pairs are checked and all appear genuine, that the original coin was real.
Since there are many such well worn original coins available for relatively cheap,
it doesn't seem worth it for a counterfeiter to make one, wear it down, then apply the fake engraving / counterstamping.
Thanks for sharing the images and to all who shared the links on how there are many of these fake engravings / counterstamps out there.
http://www.treasurenet.com/for...eated-half-dollar.html
I thought the post by "Diver Down" made a lot of sense, so it's what I was trying to paraphrase:
Your point is good - that a person who added the engraving in the 1990s could also add some fake wear over it.
So they could also use the same process to put fake wear onto a recent counterfeit struck from fake dies or cast.
Anything is possible, but if worn genuine coins are available at low cost they could be a fairly cheap source to add engraving to.
link