Some "Little Monitor" tokens (and a medalet)

[No+4Me]

I pretty much grew up with the Monitor/Merrimac (CSS Virginia) story and read everything I could find about the battle of the ironclads in Hampton Roads. I did not know that there were Monitor CWT's until a few years ago, however, which sparked a brief frenzy of token searching ending up in this small set. Several of these were purchased at the Baltimore ANA several years ago. I could not have located most of these without the assistance of forum member and exonumia expert Broadstruck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(white metal version which I am told is pretty scarce)

 

 

 

[BKW]

I really like that last piece (thumbs u

[coinsarefun]

Impressive and beautiful collection!!!

 

 

 

 

[Conder101]

The last one is interesting, but the Monitor didn't actually defeat the Merrimac, it was pretty much a draw. Neither one was sunk or surrendered, and after about three hours of fighting they both withdrew.

[leeg]

Nice.

 

(thumbs u

[No+4Me]

The last one is interesting, but the Monitor didn't actually defeat the Merrimac, it was pretty much a draw. Neither one was sunk or surrendered, and after about three hours of fighting they both withdrew.

 

You're right. The last piece is a medalet and it does a little bit of propagandizing. As the Union Army moved up the Peninsula towards Richmond, the Virginia could not withdraw far up the James due to her deep draft, so the Confederates blew her up in what was said to be a pretty spectacular explosion. A large piece of the drive shaft is on display at the Confederate museum in Richmond.

[BillJones]

Here is one you don't have yet. It is the Indiana primitive Monitor. You probably will not be able to get this one in Mint State, and it is a good deal scarcer than the other Monitor CWTs. Most examples are in EF or Choice VF. It is was paired with one or two other reverses.

 

The Monitor side is a copy of patriotic CWT # 237 (the fifth token you posted) and is # 238. Henry Higgins probably used a # 237 token to make the die. The reverse is one of Higgins' own charming, "down home" creations with horns and flourishes. This drew me to form a type set of Indiana primitive varieties. The Fuld numbers on this one are 248/405.

 

[BillJones]

 

Here is one other Monitor piece, which is fairly scarce. It is from the 1864 presidential campaign. This one is for George McClellan, who was the Donkey Party nominee. There is also one for Lincoln. The one time I had a chance to buy the Lincoln piece, I didn't pull the trigger in time, which I now regret. The piece is so rare I probably will never have another opportunity.

[PennyGuy]

Beautiful tokens all. While my focus is on store cards I occasionally run across Patriotic tokens that follow me home. Here is another variety of the "Our Little Monitor" tokens.

 

[No+4Me]

Bill, those are fascinating pieces you posted. I especially like the "primitive."

The pairing of McClellan and the Monitor makes me think of a few things, like how the Monitor kept the Virginia from shutting off Fort Monroe (and disrupting McClellan's supply line), and I mentally contrast the nimble, lightly armed Monitor with McClellan's plodding progress up the Peninsula and his heavy reliance on huge siege guns, which never saw any real use in the campaign.

 

Let's see some more Monitor tokens!

[RWB]

Those are fascinating Civil War tokens. A real treat to see! The crude folk-style workmanship is reminiscent of the “Colorado Counterfeiter.”

 

McClellan wanted everything "perfect" before he would engage the enemy. The Southern tactic was the opposite, even to the point of recklessness.

 

Curiously, one “what if” scenario was that had the slave owning states accepted British advice to end the practice in the 1850s, a United States Army under Robert E. Lee could have defeated the French invasion of Mexico and brought the northern half of present Mexico under U.S. control. U.S. Grant might have remained a shopkeeper, and railroads would have extended deep into the South and across Texas to access the new silver mines.

 

[RWB]

PS: Are there any CSS Virginia tokens?

[BillJones]

PS: Are there any CSS Virginia tokens?

 

Yes, but it was struck well after the fact circa 1906. It was made from iron that was recovered from the CSS Virginia wreck. The piece was once listed as a CWT, but was de-listed when people figured out that it was not made during the Civil War. I have an example, but it is in terrible shape because it is rusted. I'd love to buy a better one, but the opportunity has not presented itself in years.

 

Here it is ... what you can see of it ... This is by far the worst piece in my collection.

 

[No+4Me]

Well, I can see the smokestack, I think! Still, a neat piece that I was not aware existed. Being made of iron, I would be very surprised if any survive in much better condition. Maybe the Confederate museum has one.

[No+4Me]

Those are fascinating Civil War tokens. A real treat to see! The crude folk-style workmanship is reminiscent of the “Colorado Counterfeiter.”

 

McClellan wanted everything "perfect" before he would engage the enemy. The Southern tactic was the opposite, even to the point of recklessness.

 

Curiously, one “what if” scenario was that had the slave owning states accepted British advice to end the practice in the 1850s, a United States Army under Robert E. Lee could have defeated the French invasion of Mexico and brought the northern half of present Mexico under U.S. control. U.S. Grant might have remained a shopkeeper, and railroads would have extended deep into the South and across Texas to access the new silver mines.

 

RWB, I think you should start writing historical fiction!

[RWB]

The scenario came from some book I read long ago -- lots of "what ifs" of history.

[BillJones]

The scenario came from some book I read long ago -- lots of "what ifs" of history.

 

Actually the idea of invading Mexico came up during the peace conference in early 1865 (a.k.a. The Hampton Roads Conference) with Abraham Lincoln and secretary of state, William Seward, on the northern side and on the southern side, John Campbell (Confederate assistant secretary of war), Robert M. T. Hunter (Confederate senator) and Alexander Stephens (Confederate vice president). The southern politicians came to the conference in part because they believed that there was a proposal on the table for the North and the South to unite and attack the French backed regime in Mexico. The basis for this was the Monroe Doctrine.

 

The idea got started when Francis Preston Blair floated the idea to Jefferson Davis when Blair was on a mostly private peace mission to the Confederate Government. Davis was a hardliner at that point and was totally delusional about the Confederacy's chances for survival. He thought that allowing the peace conference to go forward would galvanize the South to fight harder. How could any patriotic southerner not continue to fight after the North had rejected a reasonable peace offer? So Davis thought ...

 

[RWB]

Stephens (from Georgia) later figured prominently in the W. Wheeler Hubbell's Goloid pattern coin fiasco. (Lots of deatils will be in a future issue of JNR.)

[thecoinczar]

Hello No+4Me;

 

I feast on your fantastic tokens. It must have taken you a long time to acquire all of them in mint state! Are you a collector of Civil War tokens or 19th century tokens in general or just the tokens featuring the Iron Clads?

 

I love tokens and own several, but not in the condition of yours. They can be somewhat pricey in mint state and many are downright rare.

 

Thanks for posting.

[No+4Me]

Hi Coinczar: I'm glad you like my tokens. It did not take that long to put the set together, as I had the guidance of an exonumia specialist who undoubtedly saved me a lot of floundering around. A few internet purchases and a solid day at a Baltimore show and that was it. I also saw many other interesting tokens and met some great people. The battle of the ironclads medalet was a recent purchase from John Krjalevich whose site is well worth a visit.

Consider me a novice who is having a lot of fun!

[skippy]

This may be of interest. I did the photography.

 

http://www.pdxcoinclub.org/gallery/OurLittleMonitor/OurLittleMonitor.html