Does anyone have or collect copperhead pins?

DMWJR · October 10, 2017 8:53PM

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.

AUandAG · October 10, 2017 9:01PM

Never heard that story, cool. Forgot something earlier today and now this just took it's place!

bob

CascadeChris · October 10, 2017 10:31PM

Wonder if @ThePennyLady has any or has he read of them. I know I haven't.

BillJones · October 11, 2017 5:03AM

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.

oih82w8 · October 11, 2017 5:42AM

Those are pretty neat.

MrHalfDime · October 11, 2017 6:15AM

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.

1630Boston · October 11, 2017 6:18AM

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.

dmwest · October 11, 2017 7:17AM

@1630Boston said:
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.

they used a Dremel

ricko · October 11, 2017 7:23AM

I was not aware of these.... I will watch the local antique shops for a specimen.... Good bit of history, thanks Bill.
Cheers, RickO

CaptHenway · October 11, 2017 7:51AM

I have never heard of these.

Seems like cutting down a half cent would have worked just as well.

JBK · October 11, 2017 7:54AM

"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.

johnny9434 · October 11, 2017 7:57AM

thats the first ive seen of them. its kinda cool to see it to

KellenCoin · October 11, 2017 8:20AM

I have never seen that before. Very interesting!

DMWJR · October 11, 2017 10:59AM

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.

jesbroken · October 11, 2017 11:11AM

Very interesting story. I had never heard of this. Thanks for sharing.
Jim

DMWJR · October 11, 2017 12:26PM

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)

BillJones · October 11, 2017 1:07PM

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.

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.

Timbuk3 · October 11, 2017 1:14PM

Cool, thanks for sharing !!!

BillJones · October 11, 2017 1:15PM

It amazes me that back then when a cent was really worth something they were still willing to cut one up like this.

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"

thebeav · October 11, 2017 3:20PM

Neat stuff guys !

DMWJR · October 11, 2017 3:26PM

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.

Broadstruck · October 11, 2017 3:35PM

@CascadeChris said:
Wonder if @ThePennyLady has any or has he read of them. I know I haven't.

ThePennyLady is a she.

CaptHenway · October 11, 2017 4:12PM

@Broadstruck said:

@CascadeChris said:
Wonder if @ThePennyLady has any or has he read of them. I know I haven't.

ThePennyLady is a she.

Hence the "Lady" part of the name.

CascadeChris · October 11, 2017 4:16PM

@CaptHenway said:

@Broadstruck said:

@CascadeChris said:
Wonder if @ThePennyLady has any or has he read of them. I know I haven't.

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.

ThePennyLady · October 11, 2017 9:31PM

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!

BLUEJAYWAY · October 12, 2017 12:32AM

@dmwest said:

@1630Boston said:
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.

they used a Dremel

Or a laser.