Tell me something historically interesting
savitale
Posts: 1,409 ✭✭✭✭✭
When asked why we collect coins, a common response is "a love of history". As I have been working through divesting much of my collection, I've been concluding that most of my coins are not very historically interesting. Other than some minutiae like changes in the minting process or small variations in the value of silver, I really have struggled to see any interesting historical story that really comes alive when looking at a US coin. So, help inspire me. Post a US coin and tell me an interesting historical event or circumstance reflected in the coin.
0
Comments
For me, it is not that the coin itself is historically interesting.
It is more like imagining what life was like when this coin was being used.
I wish I had one to post. But the story of the CAL Quarter Eagle is very interesting. Been posted many times before. Some day I hope!!
First U.S. Cent I used to own.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
the Century of Progress International Exhibition was held in Chicago during 1933-34. although it was held during the Depression it was the first Worlds Fair/Major Exhibition held in America which actually turned a profit.
2cent piece-first US Coin to have the phrase"In God We Trust". Seems somewhat in a historical vein. And the Peace Dollar to denote the peace following WW1.
All 1 million 1921 Peace dollars were minted on Dec 28, 29, 30, and 31. The 31st was a Saturday.
More 1922 Peace dollars were minted than any other silver dollar issue.
The reverse of the Eisenhower and SBA dollars were essentially a copy of the Apollo 11 mission patch.
U.S. Type Set
This is part of what’s interesting to me.
For example when I looked at my 1819/8 bust half it reminded of this guys house nearby to me that was built in the same year.
Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage. Very cool property.
BHNC #248 … 140 and counting.
Historically a dollar used to be worth something.
Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value. Zero. Voltaire. Ebay coinbowlllc
I think that when I see a Carson City dollar I immediately think of why that branch Mint was created. A huge, silver and gold deposit was found just a dozen miles from Carson City on Mt. Davidson (Virginia City, Gold Hill, Silver City and North of Dayton). This discovery of the Comstock Lode help fund the Civil War and helped free the slaves. To me it's just awesome to hold any CC coin. History speaks through that piece of metal.
Oh, and as a side note most all of the books are wrong on the day the Mint began coining. It's been reported for over one hundred years that the day was Feb 11, 1870. I proved two years ago that the actual date was one week earlier on Feb 4, 1870. I found this information while doing research at the State of Nevada archives at the University of Nevada, Reno. Documented by several diaries and newspaper articles.
bob
The year my mother was born, historically important to me if no one else. The birth year set I put together.
https://coins.collectors-society.com/registry/coins/SetListing.aspx?PeopleSetID=145074&Ranking=all
And this was I suspect an interesting time in history as the US was exiting the great depression but also on the doorstep of WWII. Perhaps a mix of good feelings and hope for the future, yet dark clouds on the horizon as world tensions were high.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
I have a little plastic ruler on my desk like the one below that I got in a gift shop in Washington D.C. It has all the presidents on it and the years they served. I like to check a coin's date on it and see who was president at the time the coin was minted. It gives some perspective.
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
Last month the family went to Bodie and Virginia City. The little boy Hydrants haven't stopped talking about it since. The silver mine tour, etc. The boys are all miners now and want to go back. NOW! If you get the chance fellow coin collectors....GO there. You will love it!
P.S. My first road trip with the Lovely Mrs. Hydrant was to Bodie and Virginia City. Worked out good for me.
I like historical pieces and this is one that really connects to history. It was awarded to a Civil War General who was wounded at Gettysburg, a commissioner of the Confederate surrender and fought in the Indian Wars, for which he wrote an essay that was awarded this medal.
His father was Assayer of the Charlotte Mint.
This medal was a NGC 2018 Top 5 Medal Highlight:
https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/7108/medals/
More here:
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1011339/a-civil-war-generals-gold-medal-history-in-your-hands#latest
This is John Adams Bolen medal and die pair I own.
It was struck for anniversary of tearing down the Pynchon House, the first brick house in the Connecticut River Valley, built in 1660. William Pynchon and his son, John, purchased land from the Indians and John's name is on deeds to transfer land from the Indians. The Pynchons were so wealthy that they were known as "River Gods" of the Connecticut River Valley. The settlers were known as "Pynchon's Men" to the Indians.
In 1675, the Indians burned down the entire town except for the fortified brick Pynchon House. They were amazed that it wouldn't burn. The colonists retreated to the house and took shelter there.
Land Deed
My Token and Die
This is my copper token and die pair. I also own the Henry South brass specimen now.
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1021588/bolens-pynchon-house-die-pair#latest
Woops no coin.
George Washington was president:
The Confederate’s may have minted this coin:
The 1861 O Half Dollar has an interesting history. Some were minted by Louisiana when it was part of the US., I think most were minted when it was the State of Louisiana, and the scarcest variety was minted when Louisiana was part of the Confederacy.
When you buy an old coin, do a web search of the year the coin was made---"What happened in 1874?" for example. For me, the coin comes alive in my imagination as I'm transported back to year my coin was made. You'll be literally holding history in your hand.
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
Is there any way to differentiate between the USA, Louisiana, and CSA issues? I remember reading that the CSA issues had a die crack on the obverse.
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
The Pine Tree coinage was made next, from 1667 to 1674 in the large-diameter format (this being the format of the illustrated Noe-1 variety from the Eliasberg Collection), and after that, until 1682, on thicker planchets of reduced diameter, the latter reducing die wear. Hull’s contract to coin silver for the colony was renewed four times by the General Court, the last on May 12, 1675, for a period of seven years. In 1682 the franchise expired, and there was no consideration to renew it. Mintmaster Hull died the following year on October 1, 1683.
Numismatic tradition has it that for many years the Massachusetts silver coinage had been considered illegal by British authorities, probably giving rise to the continuance of the 1652 date (except for the 1662 Oak Tree twopence) to preserve the fiction that coinage had not occurred after that time. Relations with the British crown were not cordial, and in 1684 the colony’s charter was revoked for what was considered to be many years of disobedience. Alternatively, the 1652 date simply represents the year of initial authorization of the various issues.
The Massachusetts coins circulated widely in the Eastern Seaboard colonies and in Canada. There were sufficient pieces in commerce in Maryland that on November 19, 1686, that colony legislated that silver sixpence and shillings from New England should pass as equivalent to British coins of the same denominations. Threepence pieces, never made in large quantities, did not become important in commerce.
Numismatic Aspects
The affairs of the Massachusetts Bay Colony are well documented in papers and accounts readily available to researchers, and the coinage was sufficiently extensive that dozens of die varieties have been identified, some common, others extremely rare.1 As a result, the silver coinage has attracted the attention of several American students over the years, beginning in a significant way with Sylvester S. Crosby in the 1870s, continuing to Sydney P. Noe in the 1940s and early 1950s and others since that time.
The Pine Tree shilling in particular became the subject of several stories and folklore accounts, including a romantic tale penned by Nathaniel Hawthorne in which John Hull, the mintmaster, gave his daughter’s weight in Pine Tree shillings as her dowry, this being repeated by Benson J. Lossing and many others. Another story has it that such pieces, if bent twice, would ward off witches, said to be prominent in Salem in the late seventeenth century.
more here if interested: https://r.search.aol.com/_ylt=AwrJ6yknOAxfpdAA1oFpCWVH;_ylu=X3oDMTBybGY3bmpvBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--/RV=2/RE=1594665128/RO=10/RU=http://coinappraiser.com/rare-coin-knowledge-center/shilling-1652-pine-tree//RK=0/RS=WKaOshM3nwiqUKvMvabE8kp72xo-
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb, Ricko
Bad transactions with : nobody to date
To me, coins are metal calendars...depicting the year and related histories occurring at that time and for the ensuing period. Some coins directly represent certain historical issues (i.e. Stone Mountain commemorative etc.), while others invoke memories merely by reading the date. I cannot separate the coin from the history. Cheers, RickO
I posted this in another thread but I'm fascinated with the history of the time. Here's an example:
On Feb 23 of this year (1836) the Battle at the Alamo began. Two days later, Samuel Colt received the first patent for his revolver design. On June 15, Arkansas became the 25th state. There were 26,000 ounces of gold mined in the U.S.
In the case of the 1861-0 Half Dollar I don’t think so. In the case of the 1861-C $5 no and the 1861-D $1 were all made by the Confederacy.
I love the history ghaf goes with it
One of the first assassination attempts on a U.S. President was directed toward Andrew Jackson. The guy had two pistols, and both of them misfired. I don’t remember the exact number, but it was said that the chances of both of them failing was something like 1 in 64 thousand.
Here is an 1824 Andrew Jackson campaign token. Jackson was a pioneer in using tokens to help him get elected. In 1824 Jackson got the most popular votes and the most votes in the Electoral College, but he didn't win a majority there. The election went to House of Representatives when John Quincy Adams won the White House.
The year my Dad was born. In the great depression. WWII, Korean War, etc.. He was part of the Greatest Generation.
Like a rock. R.I.P.
100% Positive BST transactions
Bending the rules a bit, a foreign coin with a US connection. One of the most commonly utilized trade coins of the 19th century was the Mexican Cap & Rays 8 Reales. This 1886-Go example circulated in the Far East, hence the chopmarks, eventually finding its way into the channels of commerce in the Philippines. During the Philippine Insurrection, it is thought that the capital of many banks in the area were stored on US Navy vessels for safekeeping from raiding parties, including an estimated million crown-sized coins aboard the USS Charleston; this cruiser had, among other exploits, been responsible for seizing Guam during the Spanish-American War.
The Charleston grounded on an uncharted reef near Camiguin Island north of Luzon on 2 November 1899, was wrecked beyond salvage and subsequently abandoned by her crew; she subsequently became the first steel-hulled vessel lost by the US Navy. She was not salvaged until rediscovery in the late '80s, during which the recovery efforts were hotly contested between government and private interests (the content of the debates over ownership of the recovery rights and the dispersal of the relevant coins could take up a full article). Illicit attempts to salvage fittings by local residents, including the use of explosives, ultimately led to the rediscovery of the coin hoard, the majority of which was melted. However, several were purchased from these salvors or directly recovered by a private entity during this period and marketed as shipwreck effects, but they don't attract the premiums associated with more famous wrecks.
So, here is an unusual piece of numismatic history that crosses multiple international borders, includes a shipwreck provenance, and offers a glimpse of the currency of the period in the US-controlled Philippines prior to the introduction of dedicated US-minted coinage.
On August 24, 1814, during the War of 1812 between the United States and England, British troops enter Washington, D.C. and burn the White House in retaliation for the American attack on the city of York in Ontario, Canada, in June 1813.
In January 1909, the Mint engaged Brenner to design a cent depicting the late president Abraham Lincoln, 1909 being the centennial year of his birth. ... Brenner's initials (VDB), on the reverse at its base, were deemed too prominent once the coins were issued, and were removed within days of the release.
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on July 4, 1826 exactly 50 years after the official date of independence. Paraphrasing Adams last word, he said, "Jefferson still lives." In fact Jefferson had died about three hours earlier.
Here's my US History research paper from 10th grade, which is still on the PCGS website. I traced the separation of the United States from Europe through its coin designs. Maybe it can help put some designs in context.
https://www.pcgs.com/news/the-european-influence-on-united-states-coinage-and-the-nationalistic
That’s impressive 👍
Some nice anecdotes here. Seems in most cases it’s the date that evokes thinking about what events happened that year. Any more related to the coin itself? One (poorly thought out) design choice is that the chain on the back of the Chain Cent was supposed to represent unity of the 13 States.
LIBERTY SEATED DIMES WITH MAJOR VARIETIES CIRCULATION STRIKES (1837-1891) digital album
Actually, the chain motif wasn't new since it was preciously used on the Fugio Cent and numerous pieces of colonial paper money. Also, there are actually 15 links in the chain on the back of the Chain Cent since there were 15 states in 1793 after Vermont and Kentucky joined the original 13 states in the union.
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