A Scott Confederate Half Dollar Medal

[BillJones]

My big purchase from the latest Baltimore show was the Scott medal of the 1861 Confederate Half Dollar. I confess that when I was a dealer I bought and sold one of these pieces, in better condition, for a fraction of the price I paid in the space of about 15 minutes. I wish I had kept it, but I was a dealer and it was more than 15 years ago. At any rate here is the piece.

 

 

In the late 1870s B.F. Taylor, who had been the chief coiner at the New Orleans Mint, sold one of the four original Confederate half dollars and the Confederate die to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania coin dealer, Ebenezer Mason. Mason then sold the coin and the die to the J.W. Scott Company of New York, NY.

 

In an effort to get more value out their purchase the Scott company decided to use the Confederate die to make the so-called Confederate Half Dollar restrikes. The Scott company bought 500, 1861-O half dollars, which happens to be a common date in the series, planed off the reverses, struck the newly blanked space with the Confederate die. Each piece was placed in a brass pan when the reverse was struck. The resulting pieces had a faithful reproduction of the Confederate Half Dollar on the reverse, but the Seated Liberty on the obverse was flattened. The bonus from this result was that experienced numismatists would be able to distinguish between the original coins and the restrikes quite easily.

 

Before they made the half dollars, however, Scott decided to strike 500 medals in white metal with an alternative reverse that gave a brief history of the Confederate Half Dollar. They did this because the Confederate die, which was not that well made from the beginning, had some rust and some die chips. The concern was that the die might break down during the production of the half dollars, which were harder to strike. The medals would be easier in the die because they were made of softer white metal.

 

In is interesting to note that the Confederate die came through the striking of the medals unharmed, but the Scott die was either broken from the beginning or broke during the striking of the 500 medals. The die break on my piece begins lightly on the "I" in "ORIGNINAL," becomes very pronounced on the right side of the "N" and runs around to the "D" in "ORDER." I would be interested to know if anyone has seen one of these pieces in an earlier or perfect die state. The other piece in the Stacks' - Bowers auction as well as the medal pictured in the Red Book shows this same die break pattern.

 

For comparison purposes here are photos of a Confederate restrike half dollar.

 

 

[BKW]

A great piece and a great write-up Bill. Congrats! I plan on adding one of these to my set at some point and you just made background research a bit easier

[BillJones]

Both of these pieces were graded by PCGS. It is interesting note that the Confederate side, which to me is FAR MORE interesting is mounted on the back of the slab. That doesn't make much sense to me. Perhaps the medal should be mounted like that if nothing else but to avoid confusion. One could debate the issue, but placing the crushed reverse of the half dollar on the front makes no sense to me.

[BKW]

Both of these pieces were graded by PCGS. It is interesting note that the Confederate side, which to me is FAR MORE interesting is mounted on the back of the slab. That doesn't make much sense to me. Perhaps the medal should be mounted like that if nothing else but to avoid confusion. One could debate the issue, but placing the crushed reverse of the half dollar on the front makes no sense to me.

 

It doesn't make sense to me either.

[bsshog40]

Very nice Bill. Hindsight is 20/20 they say. At least you got one back.

[brg5658]

The die rust spots match up on the two pieces also.

 

Interesting read Bill. Thanks for posting! (thumbs u

[Conder101]

One could debate the issue, but placing the crushed reverse of the half dollar on the front makes no sense to me.

Probably done for several reasons.

 

The Liberty was the obv of the US coin and some people think of it as the obv of the Confederate half/restrike/Scott medal. (It was actually intended to be the rev by the south.)

 

Typically the TPG's holder the dated side of a coin on the front of the holder.