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Civil War Veteran Coinage


SARGE
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A US commemorative coin was issued to remember the courage of the Confederate Soldier and to celebrate the Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial. While the coin may be well known to coin collectors the attendant paperwork is not.

 

This is a flyer that was placed in the Confederate Veteran Magazine announcing the coin. It was to act as a mounting mat for the coin to show the obverse and the reverse of the Stone Mountain 50 Cent Piece. These are almost never seen.

 

Stone_Mountain_insert.JPG

 

Here is a closeup view of the obverse showing Lee and Jackson.

 

Stone_mountain_coin_obverse.JPG

 

Here is a closeup view of the reverse showing the American eagle.

 

Stone_Mountain_coin_reverse.JPG

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Hi, George,

 

So, who issued this coin? You said it was a U.S. coin. Is it to be inferred that it came from the U.S. mint? If so, I am amazed that the Federal Government would honor the South with something like this.

 

Interesting.

 

Kevin

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Kevin,

 

Yes, legal tender from the US mint. Not just a collector item like the coins issued today but real spendable money that was put into circulation. You know, the 1920s were a different time. Civil War veterans were still alive in some numbers and they were a force to be appreciated. I think the Federal Government was trying to reconcile the nation some 50 years after the end of this most devisive war. The nation had been through the Spanish American War and the Great War in Europe and perhaps they thought it was time to honor soldiers of the South.

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  • 11 months later...
Fred Borgmann
Kevin,

 

Yes, legal tender from the US mint. Not just a collector item like the coins issued today but real spendable money that was put into circulation. You know, the 1920s were a different time. Civil War veterans were still alive in some numbers and they were a force to be appreciated. I think the Federal Government was trying to reconcile the nation some 50 years after the end of this most devisive war. The nation had been through the Spanish American War and the Great War in Europe and perhaps they thought it was time to honor soldiers of the South.

 

Just for the record, all comemorative coins issued by the USA including the modern ones of today are legal tender. Since the issue prices and melt values are so much higher than the face values they will never be seen in circulation. Fred

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Just for the record, all comemorative coins issued by the USA including the modern ones of today are legal tender. Since the issue prices and melt values are so much higher than the face values they will never be seen in circulation. Fred

 

 

Fred,

 

You are absolutly right that these things will never be seen in circulation again. Most certainly not at face value. I remember working off duty security for motel buyers during the hay-day of the Hunt brothers in the 1980s when they drove the silver market. These motel buyers would set up in local hotels and buy silver by the pound in the form of jewelry, silverware, and coins. They melted down everything, including the coins, so many are gone forever.

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SCF-Collector

Not everyone was supportive of the minting of these particular coins. I have in my collection an archive of documents from Theodore S. Waters. Waters served in Co. B, 19th Iowa Infantry - discharged for disability on 1/9/1864.

 

In this archive is a typed (probably mimeographed?) legal-size, one-page document entitled - A Bit of History, Custodians of Imperishable Glory. This document opens with:

 

The Congress of the United States enacted and President Coolidge approved a law (Public-No:46 by the 68th Congress) under which 5,000,000 half dollars were authorized, 2,300,000 were minted, and 1,300,000 sold to help build a monument to the Slaveholders' Confederacy on Stone Mountain in Georgia.

 

It goes on to take exception to many of the statements made in the 48-page pamphlet published to advertise the sale of the coins. There are some strong points made regarding the fact that no other coin has ever been minted to honor US Army soldiers (or featuring one on the coin) and yet this one was minted to honor traitors that fought against the Union. There's also a dig or two at R. E. Lee.

 

The letter/document is signed (typed, not signed) by S.F. Stewart, Patriotic Instructor, and George H. Thomas, Post No. 5 GAR, Department of Illinois.

 

There was an emphasis on post Civil War reconciliation in America in the 1920's but obviously not everyone was happy about it.

 

In this same archive are 2-3 typed/mimeographed form letters that Waters (Department of Iowa GAR Post Commander by-the-way) was apparently distributing to Comrades asking them to write their Senators/Congressmen to fight against other similar efforts - like the $100,000 in restitution paid to Columbia South Carolina (burned by Sherman) and an act ordering the Secretary of War to decorate Confederate Veteran graves.

 

An amazing archive of documents that provide insight into the thinking of some veterans during the period.

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So, who issued this coin? You said it was a U.S. coin. Is it to be inferred that it came from the U.S. mint? If so, I am amazed that the Federal Government would honor the South with something like this.

 

There was a time before the reign of political correctness when Confederate soldiers and their leaders were recognized for their valor on the battlefield. The veterans themselves -- on both sides -- certainly respected their former enemies, and many served side-by-side in the post-war US Army.

 

Bill

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