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alanvweinberg - Civil War & Lincoln Medals

Civil War & Lincoln Medals

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21 items (showing items 1–20)

	The Century - Cold Harbor, VA. 1864. Gold. 59mm × 45mm, 31.7 grams. Ex Anthony Terranova many yrs ago. Tony still remembers and mentioned the medal recently to me. A magnificent, large, hand-engraved and hand- assembled (separate rim) gold medal depicting the heat of battle at Cold Harbor, Va and a lifesaving scene. The officer being carried is a direct descendant of the Peter Porter of War of 1812 Congressional gold medal fame. One of the most impressive & visually appealing Civil War gold medals. Hand inscribed on rim.
	Lincoln Assassination - To Sgt. Thomas Cottingham. 1865. Silver. 73mm × 51mm, 61.5 grams. Finely reeded edge. Awarded by Brig. Gen'l LaFayette C. Baker, head of the Secret Service in 1865 plus $1,000 and so inscribed at top reverse. Sgt Cottingham, who was promptly promoted to Captain, is mentioned in Baker's own 1867 History of the Secret Service. This extraordinary, historical medal (not known to King) has a numismatic pedigree back to an H.G.Sampson sale Feb 12-14, 1884 lot 870 where, described as a "Proof and. Unique", it surpassed its reserve of $25 to sell for $42 to T. Harrison Garrett. When Dr. George Fuld first rec'd the fantastic Garrett/JHU medals for auction consignment & cataloguing at Bowers & Ruddy Galleries (then in Hollywood CA), he called me up to be present at the unwrapping. This medal took my breath away and I was determined to own it. During that visit, I asked George which medal, of the many hundreds of Garrett/JHU rarities, he most prized. He replied it was this Lincoln Assassination medal that most impressed him and that he valued it at $5,000. So we agreed altho my opinion of value was much higher. It hammered in 1981 for $26K and would have gone so much higher but for the "embarrassment of riches" in that 1981 sale. Ex- Garrett/JHU.
	Major General Ulysses S. Grant Congressional Medal. Silver. Diameter 102mm. The unique Congressional gold medal is on exhibit at the Smithsonian behind glass, in the same display as Grant's stuffed horse! The gold medal comes in an ornate burl wood, gold filigree presentation box which mechanically lifts up the medal as the lid is opened. Many of Grant's treasures were donated to the SI by the Grant Family.
	Sherman's Campaign - Lieut. Geo. Marr. Gold and silver. 65 x 40 mm, numerous Civil War campaigns hand engraved on the silver points obv and reverse.
	Gleason to Beallie Civil War Medal. Gold on silver. 38mm × 50mm, 30.7 grams. A privately made & awarded Civil War silver engraved medal in which at least one of the soldiers was a volunteer Zouave.
	Lincoln Quarter. 1865. Silver. Diameter 24mm, 5.8 grams. The original quarter date effaced & replaced with hand-engraved 1865. The reverse inscription in numerous different, ornate hand-engraved styles. Ex Mark Glazer coll'n.
	Civil War Engraved 1826 Bust Half Dollar. 1864. Silver. 12.2 grams.
	1834 Bust Half Dollar Taken From Moseby the Guerrilla. 1864. Silver. Diameter 31mm, 13.3 grams. Legendary Civil War figure Colonel John S. Mosby aka "The Gray Ghost" was a real Confederate thorn in the Union's side. Those of us old enough to remember, there was a Warner Bros TV series in the late 1950's starring B movie actor Todd Andrews starring as "The Gray Ghost" , Confederate Colonel's uniform and all. The coin's reverse initials "P.J.B." is very likely Joseph Bryan , editor of the Richmond (Virginia) Times-Dispatch, whom Mosby trusted as friend and courier (info courtesy of the Maine Antique Digest March 2009).
	Souvenir Given to Emannuel F. Snipe by Jefferson Davis, on 1859 silver dollar. 1865. Silver. Diameter 37mm, 23.1 grams. Emannuel Snipe was Jefferson Davis' bodyguard. This specimen and the following 3 other engraved silver coins were all quite obviously hand-engraved by the same artisan on April 25 & 26th, 1865 at Greensboro, North Carolina, the scene of a massive Confederate surrender to the Union. Why the 8 reales coins? The Confederate Treasury, when dissolved by the Union at surrender , consisted almost exclusively of Mexican silver coinage (note the considerable wear of the 1859 US silver dollar in just a few brief 6 yrs). It was this Confederate Treasury that was paid out to the discharged, dispirited and bedraggled South's defeated soldiers and officers as they laid down their arms and returned home from the War. Evidently, just outside the surrender, a "Sutler" of sorts was engraving the distributed coins as War souvenirs or remembrances for, perhaps, 25 or 50 cents apiece. All of these 4 pieces were acquired over years from different sources. John J. Ford had only one piece in his coll'n -the Snipe piece.
	Confederate Souvenir of The Lost Cause, on Mexico 8 reales piece. 1865. Silver. Diameter 39mm, 26.4 grams.
	Souvenir of Confederate Surrender, on Mexico 8 reales piece. 1865. Silver. Diameter 39mm, 25.8 grams.
	Masonic CSA Medal engraved on Mexico 8 reales piece. 1865. Silver. Diameter 39mm, 22.9 grams.
	George F. Robinson Medal - Seward Attempted Assassination. 1871. Silver. Diameter 77mm. Two known in silver. I believe the few silvers that exist were given to either the recipient's family or, more likely, the Congressman or Senator proposing the issuance of the gold Congressional medal. The original gold medal is in the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian, located "in a high security storage unit" (evidently never on exhibit) within the Division of Politics and Reform. This information was only recently revealed after a 2 year-long inquiry with the SI w/o response. The chocolate bronze is rather rare.
	Lincoln - Major General John C. Robinson medal. Gold. Diameter 46mm, 69.8 grams. A rare US Mint medal and, of course, unique in gold.
	Lincoln Indian Peace Medal. 1862. Silver. Diameter 76mm. A superb proof, unpierced & unissued IPM. Ex Andrew Zabriskie Lincoln coll'n. Zabriskie's interest in Lincoln was borne out of his attendance as a small child at Lincoln's funeral procession in 1865 & for approx 100 yrs his Lincolnia lay unseen and unappreciated in a box in a closet until his descendants brought it into Sotheby's NY auction house in 1999. Of course, Zabriskie's superb American coin coll'n was auctioned by the Chapman Bros in the early part of the century. I'll never forget my visit in Dec 1999 to the numismatic vaults of the Smithsonian. There was a thin metal cabinet drawer labelled "Lincoln Medals". I pulled it out and was confronted with six 76 mm silver Lincoln IPM's, 3 superb unissued pcs and 3 ringed, evidently issued but choice pcs. Nearby was the huge gold Grant 1863 cased Congressional medal, in a cabinet drawer (later to be exhibited with Grant's stuffed horse!).
	Lincoln Franky Magniadas. 1865. Bronze. Diameter 81mm. This Swiss-struck huge Lincoln medal with its reverse depicting armed, nude torso Black insurgents (former slaves) at his tomb is perhaps the most visually stunning medal depicting Lincoln. A silver specimen is rumored and for many yrs the huge gold specimen given to his widow Mary Todd was thought to have been melted as Mary Todd Lincoln was in severe financial straits after the assassination. Only recently was I reliably informed the gold medal is ensconced in the Library of Congress where you have to be a recognized and approved researcher to even get into the "Library" which, theoretically, belongs to and is funded by the American public. I paid a record price for this bronze medal as it was accompanied by the only original round plush case and the original medal announcement / solicitation I'd heard of. In original case, with issue document.
	Anti-Slavery Pin "Emancipation Is In National Unity". Silver. 44mm × 50mm, 16.6 grams. Ex PCAC. Silver, dated 1863 and a New York maker on the reverse. Rex Stark says he had another specimen. High relief of a prostrated slave in chains. Great visual anti-slavery appeal. Extremely rare.
	Lincoln Club of Cincinnati Pin. Silver with blue enamel. Diameter 62mm, 32.6 grams. Ex Hank Spangenberger. There is another gilt brass & glass lengthy badge depicting Lincoln from the same Lincoln Club that I haven't had photographed yet.
	5th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. Silver. Diameter 37mm. Hand-engraved on a 37 mm 25 gr effaced French 5 francs silver coin of either Louis XVIII (1814-24) or Charles X (1824-30), legal tender at 93c until 1857 when the US banned circulating foreign coins, the coin's incused lettered rim identifying inscription intact. Inscribed by a jeweler at the behest of the unit's soldier David Cline assigned to the Federal Gov't 's 5th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry Co. F. They fought numerous battles against a violently split pro-slavery/abolitionist Ks population and against raiders around the state's border. This conflict , referred to as the "Kansas Rebellion" (note the word Rebellion in the inscription) and "Bloody Kansas", also involved violent abolitionist/raider John Brown , hanged in Va in 1859 prior to the Civil War's inception. Allegedly in the possession of a Kansas family until one month prior, this was acquired at the 2010 Boston PNG pre-ANA show from well-respected Ky professional numismatist Jonathan Kern and photographed by numismatic photographer extraordinaire Tom Mulvaney at the the Boston ANA. .
	1861 Fort Sumter Major Anderson Silver Medal. Silver. Engr. By Geo H. Lovett, struck by Augustus B. Sage. 1 of 2 silvers known, the other in ANS. Ex rare in brz & wht metal. Not in John J. Ford, Jr. Coll'n. 69.9 mm, 101.84 grns. Ex Chas. Bushnell coll'n 1882 Chapman auction lot 1660; Capt Andrew Zabriskie coll'n Sotheby's 1999 lot 659; Q. David Bowers coll'n. Featured as one of Bowers/Jaeger's 100 Greatest American Medals and Tokens and prominently featured in Bowers' American Numismatics Before the Civil War 1760-1860 where it's given several pages coverage. Gem proof striking with delightful toning, one of the aesthetically most impressive American medals I've seen/owned. The medal commemorates the firing of the first shots of the Civil War in the bombardment by Confederate troops on Charleston's Fort Sumter under command of the Union's Major Robt Anderson. Photographed by master numismatic photographer Tom Mulvaney tom@rarecoinphotos.com.