 Original 1861 Confederate States of America Cent. Copper-Nickel. Choice Brilliant Proof. A second. 64.1 gns. 19.2 mm. Mostly pale gold in color as expected from a Copper Nickel Cent and with some darker toning on the obverse at lower left. Proof flash is visible everywhere on both sides. Some minor striations visible under magnification, a touch of minor roughness in places on the front. Very rare: only 12 to 15 are known. When Haseltine first offered restrike Confederate Cents for sale to the public, he retold the story of his discovery of the originals and the dies in these words ''The history of this piece is probably known to most Collectors, but, for the information of those who are ignorant of the facts, we will state that the dies were made by Mr. Lovett, of Philadelphia, in 1861, who says that they were ordered in that year for the South, and that he struck but twelve pieces, but probably thinking that he might have some difficulty in reference to them (have made the dies for the South), he mentioned the matter to no one until a few months since, when he parted with ten pieces, struck in nickel [sic], which he stated were all he had, having lost two pieces. One of the said lost pieces was the means of the dies and pieces being traced. Although the Southern Confederacy did not adopt this piece, it will always be considered interesting as the only coinage designed for the said Confederacy.'' Through the research of P. Scott Rubin, John Ford and others we know that the story was a bit more complex than told by Haseltine, who had a commercial interest in the Confederate Cent and who probably embellished and edited the Lovett story for public consumption. We also know that more than 12 originals must have been struck because between 12 and 15 different ones can be traced today. Incredibly, Mr. Ford once owned eight different examples. This is the fourth of five examples to be offered by Stack's in the John J. Ford, Jr. auction series.
Ex F.C.C. Boyd Estate.
| |
|
