1863 U.S. Union Flag coin.....what's its value?

[coin-boy007-migration]

Wondering what it's worth?

 

description: flag on one side w/ the 1863 date..."The Flag of our Union"

is also on that side....Other side it says, "If anybody attempts to tear

it down"......"Shoot him on the spot"......DIX in the center........

[whoopig01]

Is this it?

 

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3456&item=3976866182&rd=1

[Gold Guy-migration]

[BillJones]

This is one of group of Civil War tokens that are called "Dix tokens." They refer to a quote by a Union general named John Dix.

 

At the beginning of the war Dix was the secretary of the Treasury. In that capacity he was responsible for revenue cutters (small ships) that the Union governemnt used control smuggling. Dix was concerned that these ships would fall into Confederate hands as each southern state seceded from the Union. In a dispatch that Dix sent to one of his agents in New Orleans, Dix instructed the agent to take command of a ship called the McClelland and treat that captain as a mutineer if he tried to interfere with that opertation. Dix further instructed his subordinate that, "If anyone attempts to haul down the American flag, shot him on the spot." Dix's quote became a rallying cry during the war and appeared on this series of tokens.

 

Dix, who was in his early 60s, was too old to take a field cammand. He spent most of the war as a general behind the lines whose duty was to keep order. His most famous action was taken to quell the mobs during and after the New York Draft Riots in July 1863.

 

Taken as a group, Dix tokens are fairly common, not one of the "top burner" with most Civil War token collectors. As such prices range from $13 to $15 in VF to $35 to $40 for Choice R&B Mint State pieces.

[CarlWohlforth]

I enjoyed reading your reply Bill. That is interesting stuff.

[michael]