-40%
SMITHSONIAN 1861 CONFEDERATE COPPER CENT RESTRIKE, 2011, NGC GRADED GEM PROOF
$ 71.14
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Description
Spectacular Smithsonian 150th. Anniversary Confederate Cent Restrike, issued in 2011, NGC graded Gem Proof.To mark the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War, the Smithsonian officially authorized the striking of a three-piece 1861 Confederate Cent Restrike Collection. All three coins feature the historic 1861 Confederate Cent design, struck in a tenth-ounce of copper and 99.9% silver, as well as a quarter-ounce of 99.9% gold. Each piece is certified Gem Proof by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) and comes sealed in a protective acrylic holder to preserve its provenance. This coin is the Copper coin.
A bit of history. Sometime in early 1861, agents of the Confederacy contacted Bailey & Co. of Philadelphia, popular jewelers of the day, regarding the production of a Cent for the Confederacy. The Philadelphia well known die sinker engraver Robert Lovett, Jr. received this commission from Bailey & Co. and set out to produce dies for this now legendary coin. Lovett was no stranger to commissions from the South, having produced and signed a very rare white metal 1860-dated medal of the Washington Light Infantry of Charleston, South Carolina commemorating Capt. Simonton. Although the order apparently came through before secession, after going through all the labor of production, Lovett decided to deliver neither coins nor dies to the Confederacy, as hostilities had perhaps begun between the North and South. Coining for the Confederacy would have become an act of treason, and he decided to keep the Cents and dies a secret, concealing them in his cellar.
Uncovering his cache of Confederate Cents after the War, Lovett carried one as a pocket piece, which, as legend has it, he inadvertently spent in a West Philadelphia bar in the early 1870's. Noticing something unusual about the cent tendered by Lovett, the bartender held it aside for future consultation with a coin dealer. Supposedly Capt. John W. Haseltine, 19th century Philadelphia coin dealer and auctioneer, received news of this CSA cent and visited the bartender to examine it. Recognizing Lovett's work on the obverse, Haseltine badgered Lovett with regard to the CSA cent until Lovett finally acknowledged its clandestine production. At that point, Lovett is said to have pulled 11 pieces from a drawer for Haseltine, adding that he had lost a 12th.
There are other versions of the origin of the coin, including one from Haseltine himself. We now know that more than 12 specimens must have been struck, because at least 16 have been traced so far. Eventually, the original dies were turned over to the Smithsonian. To mark the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War, the Smithsonian officially authorized the striking of the three-piece 1861 Confederate Cent Smithsonian Restrike Collection.
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