President William McKinley Funeral Train Relic

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MWallace
MWallace Posts: 4,683 ✭✭✭✭✭
in U.S. Coin Forum
On September 6, 1901, President McKinley was shot twice in the abdomen while on the grounds of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY. He died eight days later on Sept. 14th, after gangrene that had developed around the bullet wounds affected his stomach. A train carried his body first to Washington, and then later on to Canton, Ohio for burial.



All along the train route, citizens placed coins along the tracks to have as a keepsake of the historical event. Some of the coins were then engraved or counterstamped, forever identifying them for what they are. This was also done as President Lincoln’s funeral train carried his body from Washington to Illinois for interment.



Here is a coin that I recently picked up of a 1901 Indian Cent that was placed along the funeral train route of President McKinley.



A google search will find other examples this type of keepsake.



First is a photo from Harper's Weekly of citizens collecting the coins they had placed on the tracks as the funeral train approached.



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Next is a copy of an article that appeared in newspapers and magazines across America. Note that the article mentions that a "wealthy resident" "placed a $10 gold piece upon the rail".



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Next are photos of the obverse and reverse of the piece I recently added to my collection.



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Comments

  • sparky64
    sparky64 Posts: 7,065 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    That's a great piece of history.

    I like that you can see plenty of the IHC detail too.

    Really like it and glad you posted it.

    "If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"

    My Washington Quarter Registry set...in progress

  • ricko
    ricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    A unique bit of history and numismatic treasure.... Thanks for showing us.. Cheers, RickO
  • Rampage
    Rampage Posts: 9,686 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    That is awesome. Thanks for posting. I love these historical posts.
  • oih82w8
    oih82w8 Posts: 13,212 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Cool piece!



    I have heard that it is against the law (trespassing) to practice this method today, placing objects on train tracks, which could be flying projectiles from the oncoming train.
    oih82w8 = Oh I Hate To Wait _defectus patientia_aka...Dr. Defecto - Curator of RMO's

    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,...
  • topstuf
    topstuf Posts: 14,803 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Everything is against smoe law.

    I made an 11c piece on RR tracks when I was a kid.

    Coins fly a good distance when you do that.

    It's fun.

    Today's kids are depressingly dull.

  • OldEastside
    OldEastside Posts: 4,602 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Cool Story, yes they do go flying and they are hard to find after........so that why I started taping them down,
    that would help most of the time, BUT not always image

    Steve
    Promote the Hobby
  • savoyspecial
    savoyspecial Posts: 7,374 ✭✭✭✭
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    I watched that one Mike....glad you ended up with it

    www.brunkauctions.com

  • mannie gray
    mannie gray Posts: 7,259 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    The historical/numismatic link is really interesting.
  • shylock
    shylock Posts: 4,288 ✭✭✭
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    Very cool IH and great history associated with it. This is why I love the forum.
    Paul <> altered surfaces <> CoinGallery.org
  • logger7
    logger7 Posts: 9,870 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    As kids we used to put coins on the train tracks for kicks, later we were warned not to do it because it could actually derail the train.



    Interesting article. McKinley was expected to survive.
  • MedalCollector
    MedalCollector Posts: 2,103 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    That is super cool! Congrats on the pick up and thanks for the history.
  • Jackthecat1
    Jackthecat1 Posts: 1,122 ✭✭✭
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    A great piece of history! Thank you for posting.
    Member ANS, ANA, GSNA, TNC



    image
  • AUandAG
    AUandAG Posts: 25,050 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    +11
    Registry: CC lowballs (boblindstrom), bobinvegas1989@yahoo.com
  • CascadeChris
    CascadeChris Posts: 2,529 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Very cool indeed as well as the article. I wonder what became of the $10 gold piece
    The more you VAM..
  • johnny9434
    johnny9434 Posts: 34,111 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Originally posted by: Rampage
    That is awesome. Thanks for posting. I love these historical posts.


    that makes 2 of us.
  • BillJones
    BillJones Posts: 35,938 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    That is a very interesting item. There are many McKinley memorial buttons with black circles around his portrait, but this is the first of these coins that I have seen.
    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • lordmarcovan
    lordmarcovan Posts: 45,340 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    That's awesome.



    Boy, wouldn't it be neat to have one of the squashed $10 gold pieces, huh?



    I was unaware of these, or of the Lincoln funeral train pieces. Were the latter also counterstamped to identify them? I'd love to see one.



    Speaking of the McKinley assassination, and the exposition, I bought this piece for the "Numismatic Gladiator X" championship round. (It came in third.)



    Here is the blurb I wrote to accompany that:





    "This is an elongated Indian cent (pre-1901) made as a souvenir for the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY. It was at this exposition that President McKinley was assassinated. This piece shows the Manufacturing and Liberal Arts building and the reverse is an advertisement for Armour's "Dainty Canned Meats". Armour is still around, of course, but in 1901 I'll bet their meats were anything but "dainty", since that was a few years before Upton Sinclair exposed the nastier side of the meatpacking industry in his 1906 book "The Jungle", which led to widespread reforms in federal food safety legislation.”








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    Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.

  • BG
    BG Posts: 1,762 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Very cool item!



    image



    A McKinley Medal I own:





    image





    From 1907 Oct/Nov Numismatist:





    image

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    image



  • MedalCollector
    MedalCollector Posts: 2,103 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    ttt. Just saw another that had ended on eBay, here.

  • dsessom
    dsessom Posts: 2,481 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    My love for old coins stems for my fascination of history. Thanks for posting this! I had never heard of this before.

    Best regards,
    Dwayne F. Sessom
    Ebay ID: V-Nickel-Coins
    My V Nickel Registry Set - https://pcgs.com/setregistry/alltimeset/71874
  • Zoins
    Zoins Posts: 34,489 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Nice McKinley Memorial medal @BG !

    Just checked to see whether it was a SCD or not but it seems to be a bit large side at 50/51mm.

    Private Mint News | 2010 Lincoln Reverse Finalists
  • crazyhounddog
    crazyhounddog Posts: 14,252 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Really cool !! Thanks for sharing this!!

    The bitterness of "Poor Quality" is remembered long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.
  • oih82w8
    oih82w8 Posts: 13,212 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    One of the few times where a deliberate defacing of a coin is considered "cool".

    oih82w8 = Oh I Hate To Wait _defectus patientia_aka...Dr. Defecto - Curator of RMO's

    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,...
  • logger7
    logger7 Posts: 9,870 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Roosevelt must be the king of promotions of coins and numismatics; he got his predecessor lots of numismatic recognition; on the currency also.

  • BG
    BG Posts: 1,762 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @Zoins said:
    Nice McKinley Memorial medal @BG !

    Just checked to see whether it was a SCD or not but it seems to be a bit large side at 50/51mm.

    Thanks. It is a large medal and thick also. Will go to NCS at some point.

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