Heres a new on to my collection. Anyone got any info???

[bajablu]

 

 

Thanks for any info and opinions in advance...

[Just Bob]

Some info about the ship: (From Wikipedia)

 

Ordered: March 27, 1794

Launched: September 7, 1797

Struck: 1853

Status: Broken up, 1853

General characteristics

Displacement: 1,265 tons

Length: 164 ft (50 m) bp

Beam: 41 ft (12.5 m)

Draught: 13.5 ft (4.1 m)

Propulsion: Sail (three masts, ship rig)

Complement: 340 officers and enlisted

Armament: 38 × 24-pounder (11 kg) long gun

(replaced with 18-pounders, 1799)

 

 

I believe that I read somewhere that it was later discovered that the coins were actually minted from the metal taken from a different ship.

 

Some more info from a different source:

 

USS Constellation was a 38-gun frigate and the first ship to be commissioned in the United States Navy. She was distinguished as the first U.S. Navy vessel to put to sea and the first U.S. Navy vessel to engage, defeat, and capture an enemy vessel. She was 164 feet in length, displaced 1,278 tons, and carried up to 340 officers and soldiers.

 

The original USS Constellation was constructed in 1797 by Joshua Humphreys at the Harris Creek Shipyard in Baltimore's Fells Point, and launched on September 7, 1797, just as the United States entered the Quasi-War with France. She was broken up for scrap in 1853 in Gosport Navy Yard in Norfolk, Virginia at the same time as the keel was laid for what would later be known as the second USS Constellation.

 

On 9 February 1799, under the command of Captain Thomas Truxtun, Constellation fought and captured the frigate L'Insurgente of 36 guns, the fastest ship in the French Navy — the first major victory by an American-designed and -built warship. In February of 1800, Constellation fought a night encounter with the frigate La Vengeance of 54 guns. Constellation was victorious after a five-hour battle. Her speed inspired the French to nickname her the "Yankee Racehorse."

 

Constellation also served in the Barbary Wars against Tripoli and in the War of 1812 against Great Britain. In 1840, Constellation completed a voyage around the world, which included becoming the first U.S. warship to enter the inland waters of China.

 

The coin measures 1 1/4 inches in diameter and shows the likeness of the Constellation on the obverse. It reads, "U.S. Frigate Constellation - 1797". On the reverse, it displays an eagle clutching a shield and 2 naval cannons, and reads, "This coin struck from parts of the Frigate Constellation, the first ship of the U.S. Navy".

 

However, it was thought that the first Constellation was simply rebuilt in 1853-4 to become the second one. Proof came during the renovation of the ship in Baltimore concluding in 1999 in which all evidence pointed to the construction of an entirely new sloop-of-war from the 1850s era and not the 1797 ship. Thus, although the coin states it comes from the 'first ship of the U.S. Navy", this is not the case.

 

 

[bajablu]

Now thats some great info. Thanks for the help.