George Washington/ Philadelphia Great Central Fair Medal

USMoneylover · August 19, 2011 12:29PM

I picked this and a few bust dimes up today at the Dalton, GA coin show, and was hoping someone might be able to share some knowledge about this medal/token:
Edit to add: 18mm and appears silver

OldEastside · August 19, 2011 12:32PM

Naw too easy

I think it's pretty cool though

Steve

LotsoLuck · August 19, 2011 1:00PM

F-750-1a I believe. Typically they are not holed. Here is a MS63 RB example of mine. Undergraded dont ya know

Edited to add, I dont believe these came in silver.

USMoneylover · August 19, 2011 1:06PM

I did a bit of digging around, and found this website: CWTS
Looks like mine is the 750L-1F (Silver). according to this site it is an R-5, Is this the sheldon scale they are using or something different?

LotsoLuck · August 19, 2011 1:10PM

<< <i>I did a bit of digging around, and found this website: CWTS
Looks like mine is the 750L-1F (Silver). according to this site it is an R-5, Is this the sheldon scale they are using or something different? >>

I'll be, they do come is silver

I took a stab without going to the books. Thats a pretty cool PU and I learned something new today

Broadstruck · August 19, 2011 1:13PM

These tokens where sold in copper for a dime at the fair and the silver version for a half dollar to raise funds.

1864 Great Central Fair Philadelphia PA -

In 1861, the Philadelphia branch of the relief organization, the United States Sanitary Commission, began collecting monetary donations in order to supply Union soldiers with basic necessities and medical supplies. Although the Philadelphia branch raised $135,000 in the span of 2 years, the war effort demanded more supplies and support. The success of Sanitary Fairs in Chicago, Cincinnati and Boston encouraged the Philadelphia agency to experiment with its own Fair in June 1864. Local businesses and institutions donated their products and services to support the patriotic cause and exhibited a wide array of valuable goods and curiosities under one roof. Although the Sanitary Commission asked all members of society to support their countrymen, the spectacle was limited to those who could afford the admission prices.

Logan Square was chosen as the site for the Great Central Fair since it was large enough to accomodate the main building, which encompased approximately 200,000 square feet. William Strickland and Samuel Honeyman Kneass designed the symmetrical structure with Gothic details, the elevation and plan of which are pictured below. Union Avenue, the great central "Gothic" artery, bisected the Fair building from Eighteenth Street to Nineteenth Street. According to Charles J. Stille, who wrote a memorial of the Fair for the Sanitary Commission, "this great hall had all the vastness of the Cathedral's long drawn aisles and its moral impressiveness as a temple dedicated to the sublime work of charity and mercy." Various "departments" were organized along the corridors of this mini-town.

LotsoLuck · August 19, 2011 1:17PM

Good 'ol Broadstruck, and CWT's aint even his focus

BillJones · August 19, 2011 1:41PM

These pieces were sold as a fundraiser at the “Great Sanitary Fair” that was held in June, 1864. The Philadelphia mint brought a coin press on to the floor of the fair and struck these tokens there. They were made in bronze, silver and gold plated. The copper pieces were sold for 10 cents and the silver pieces were priced at 50 cents. The gold plated pieces are much rarer and were probably made for presentation purposes.

The United States Sanitary Commission was a citizen run organization that supplied bandages, blankets, cleaning materials and other sanitation products to the soldiers in the field. During the Civil War many soldiers died in camp from diseases. The death toll would have been much worse had it not been for the efforts of the Sanitary Commission.

The silver piece that you bought is rated as an R-5 on the Civil War token scale with an estimated population of 75 to 200 pieces. These pieces don’t show up every day, but there are enough of them around to make me think that there are 200 + of them available. The piece you bought is the most common Civil War token in silver.

Although they are listed as three Civil War token varieties, there are several sub varieties of these pieces, which have to do with the placement of the lettering on the reverse. No one pays much attention to that from what I see.

Here are the pieces in my collection

Copper

Silver

Gold Plated

LotsoLuck · August 19, 2011 1:47PM

Dang BillJones, do you own every coin/token made?

Nice examples and thank you for sharing.

USMoneylover · August 20, 2011 1:40AM

Thanks for all the extra information guys. Bill Jones, you always come up with great examples of most coins, thanks for sharing once again!

BillJones · August 20, 2011 2:39AM

<< <i>Dang BillJones, do you own every coin/token made?

Nice examples and thank you for sharing. >>

It only looks that way because I post pictures of things I have. Actually I only have about 300 or so Civil War token varieties. They mostly have to do with politics or pieces that struck my fancy. The really serious CWT collections have gotten as large as 5,000 to 5,500 pieces.

coindeuce · August 20, 2011 4:19AM

I own a silver composition of this 18 mm. medal as well as the 77 mm U.S. Mint bronze medal. The small size silver is listed in Rulau's "Medallic Portraits of Washington" as B-363. Fuld assigned an R-5 ranking.

BillJones · August 20, 2011 11:25PM

Here is the bronze mint medal that was issued with this event. I have this one with the original box, but the box is not in the best of shape. But then again it's 150 years old.

George Washington/ Philadelphia Great Central Fair Medal

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