• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Robert E. Lee Died

Started by dimefreak,

27 posts in this topic

BillJones

BillJones

Posted
Posted

Not a coin, but a Lincoln political token from the 1860 presidential campaign. One of Lincoln campaign slogans was that he was "the rail splitter from Illinois.” That a more populist sound to it than, “the successful and prosperous railroad lawyer from Springfield.”

 

AL186010O.jpgAL186010R.jpg

 

Here is a coin, an 1861 half eagle. The gold coins from 1861 tend to be "common dates" because I think the Union side tried to finance the war with gold very early in the conflict. They gave up on that fairly quickly.

 

18615O.jpg18615R.jpg

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BillJones

BillJones

Posted
Posted
Lee might have been the one man who could have prevented the Civil War...at least for a few years.

 

How so?

 

Lee might have made it shorter if he had joined the Union side, but once Lincoln, "the black ," won the 1860 presidential election the issue was settled. Either the country would split in two, or maybe even more pieces, or there would be a war to force it back together. With Lincoln in the White House, the war could not have been avoided.

 

Oops ...

 

Edited to say "Spoon" = Elephant Party member. This was a slur many southerners used toward Elephant Party members before and during the Civil War.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RWB

RWB

Posted
Posted

Virginia was the largest (population) and by far the richest of the southern states. Without Virginia, the Confederacy had no "meat" and without Lee, Virginia would not secede.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BillJones

BillJones

Posted
Posted
Virginia was the largest (population) and by far the richest of the southern states. Without Virginia, the Confederacy had no "meat" and without Lee, Virginia would not secede.

 

That is not impression I got when I read about the reasons that Virginia seceded. The Virginia legislature was on the fence, voting against secession, until the firing started at Fort Sumter. Prior to the firing on the fort, Virginia lawmakers agreed that the southern states had the right to choose to leave the Union, but so long as no force was used to make them return, Virginia would remain a state. But then Lincoln decided to re-supply the fort, which made it clear that he would not allow the Union to dissolve without a fight.

 

Then it became a North vs. South thing and a matter of southern honor. Lee then followed his home state, which was very much the anti-bellum attitude of many southern gentlemen of the time. Their first allegiance was to their home state and then to the United States of America. Lee said as much when he made his decision to decline the offer to head the Union forces.

 

At the beginning of the war, Robert E. Lee was not that big of a deal. Joe Johnson was heading up the Confederate defenses against the Peninsula Campaign, and Lee was a behind the lines as an advisor to Jefferson Davis. Some people even called him “Granny Lee” for his prissy, courtly demeanor. Then Johnson got shot; Lee replaced him and then rose to glory.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
bartlesvilleok

bartlesvilleok

Posted
Posted

Here is a pattern that was made largely in part due to the Civil War.

 

Following info from Wikipedia

Civil War era silver shortages led to widespread hoarding of all silver coins, and most one and five cent coins as well. Various alternatives were tried, including encapsulated postage and privately issued coinage. The Treasury eventually settled on issuing fractional currency. These small denomination (1 to 50 cent) notes were never popular, as they were easy to lose and unwieldy in large amounts. The answer to this issue was reached in 1865 with the introduction of the three cent nickel coin. This coin was composed of copper and nickel and was larger than the silver coin of the same denomination. The coin featured a Liberty head obverse and another Roman numeral 'III' reverse. The three cent nickel was never intended as a permanent issue, only as stopgap measure until the wartime hoarding ceased. However, production of the coin continued until 1889, 16 years after the three cent silver was discontinued. One reason often given for the discontinuation of the three cent nickel piece in 1889 is that this coin and the dime (10 cent silver coin) were identical in diameter, and hence caused confusion upon the introduction of mechanical vending machines.[dubious – discuss] Another factor may have been that in 1883 the letter postage rate dropped to 2 cents, thus removing the justification for this coin.[4]

 

The three cent nickel was only minted in Philadelphia and, except for a larger date on the 1889 pieces, had no design differences throughout its run. Over the course of the series mintage declined, and some of the dates are scarce. But, with an 1865 mintage of over eleven million, a type piece can be inexpensively obtained

 

DSCN6069.jpg

DSCN6077.jpg

DSCN6111.jpg

DSCN6112.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BillJones

BillJones

Posted
Posted 

 The answer to this issue was reached in 1865 with the introduction of the three cent nickel coin. This coin was composed of copper and nickel and was larger than the silver coin of the same denomination.

 

I've read that the reason for the Nickel Three Cent piece and the nickel five cent pieces was that they were replacements for and offered ways to redeem the three and five cent fractional currency notes. Fractional currency was never popular because it did not enjoy legal tender status, and it did not contain any intrinsic value, which was a big deal to people in the 19th century. In addition the tiny (third issue) three and five cent notes did not hold up well in circulation and became an ugly embarrassment to the Union government. Therefore they were replaced by coins. The fourth and fifth issues of fractional currency excluded the three and five cent denominations.

 

Here are pictures of the third issue three and five cent factional currency notes that became so offensive to government officials.

 

Frac3rd3F.jpg

Frac3rd3B.jpg

 

Frac3rd5F.jpg

Frac3rd5B.jpg

 

The name of the fellow on the five cent note is Spenser Clark. He was a very innovative government official who introduced the concept of wet printing to United States currency. He had the audacity to put his picture on this five cent while he was still in office. For that he got into hot water. Of course there were a couple of elected officials who also put their face on paper currency while they were in office. They were not bothered.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
bartlesvilleok

bartlesvilleok

Posted
Posted

Yes Bill you are correct,

 

The info I copied form wikipedia had that information before what I copied but they were it was very drawn out talking about how people did not care for the fractional currency. Both were used for Stamps which is was 3cents each back then. NICE NOTES :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Go to topic listing