Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1879-11-07
IN. cnnr.hera,c msIfnoIlsr.

II may not be known 10 all ine rehutit OF
THE PHUN1x, that there is in existence such
a coin as the one named at the head Of this
article and that the original coin, with
written guarantee Of Its genuineness, is now
offered for sale at the price Of $1,000 On
the 2sth day Of February. 1861 the branch
mint Of the United States located at the city
Of New Orleans. was taken possession Of by
those persons who rebelled against the gov
eminent and the superintendent was order
ed 10y them TO Immediately prepare dies,
from which could be struck suitable coins for
use iu the so-called Confederate States Of
America In order to save time the die.
which had already been in use for producing
the'oJreyse Of the United States half dollar Of
that year. was employed as O reuerSs and only
new oiUcrsG was engraved From these
two dies four coins were struck and disposed
Of as follows one being given TO each person
jefferson Davis Prof Biddel. Of the Uni
versity Of Louisiana Dr. L Amos Of New
Orleans j. T. Taylor, chief coiner Of the
New Orleans mint
Messrs. Scott a Co.. an euterurisiug firm
Of New York city who deal in coins and med
ais. succeeded il obtaining possession. not
only Of the one remaining coin ,the other
three being lost but also OF the die already
referred to. and during the present autumn
issued circular containing the facts men
toned above This circular was distributed
among the different numismutists Of this
country. and contained certain information
OF great interest TO them. Of which the follow
ing Us q summary That they would cause to
%, struck from the original die five hundred
coins in silve- Of the same weight and fine
ness Of the original after which the die
would be destroyed That they would sup
ply uumisnatists with these coins at d certain
prlc, under certain rules. among which wa
this That DO more than two Of the coins
would be- supplied to any one person pledP-
ing themselves 10 rt-purchase az any time
within five year oil offered them at d premi-
um. and expressing their belief that before
the end Of the present year the coins would
command price nearly three times greater
than the sum paid for them by tho first pur-
chaser
Tn- interest which must hereafter be al
t4cned to the original coin. and the conse-
guent value Of the restrike- produced 10y
the same di,, are clearly set forth ty the pro
prietors in the following paragraph
An the parties connected with the mint
are now living lL New Orleans they have
made Efiidavits 10 the facts stated and are
willing 10 verify them when desired. Thus
1t vii be seen that the coin j. genuine and
fully authenticated beyond al doubt. and a.
SO II must be considered A. one OF the L uited
States series for i wa struck AZ the United
States branch mint by United States officials
with on, q the regular United StAtes dies.
and from government silver The fact Of
the State being IL rebellion does not alter
the facts Of the case for !. We are 70 Ca
Crude lIIs piece from the series We must also
strike O-t either the siege pieces Of Charle-
! / or the coins Of tie commonwealth from
the LugAsA b-rIes. 20 SAY nothing Of the vast
array of I.Omuu coins issued under similar
I circumstance but VI doubt i there j. Euy
I uuulsIuayIst bIEuttu enough 10 affirm tLls
therefore j. must be placed al the head Of
/ the American sgrIcs, being much rarer than
! the eO4 dollar. o. which d. least eight are
! known. while tAI- 10 unique. For historic
! interest lutre 4, Only one other IL the series
4 which has ipteres; attached 70 it. We refer
( - the + rankin cent, which heraidoi the
/ birth Of nation. while the Coufederats half
I freedom Oh tins American continent, aud it,
rarity viii SLOW 10 distant ages tic futlity Of
! the attempt
When the '-restrIk-s were delivered to the
rsut,-rrit,ers which wus III october last this
/ information accompanied them. Il seems
/ that OIL H.. very first trial Of the di, It brok.
1t was thcu set IN heavy steel band TO pre-
/ vent further damage, but before attempting
/ to strike again III hard silver it was though,
/ best % strike the requisite number 500 IL
/ white metal with the following inscription
4 for Il rovers, - originals struck by order OF
| c. 5. A IL New Orleans 1901
1 Rev same hs L. s From original die
! Scott " These ar now offered for sale Il
/ thoss persons who subscribed to tbs silve,
! piece Five hundred mali dollars Of d specia
I nlntage were then procured. Oh which the
/ pieces were struck by a new method or,r Qsa-
u.ne 1861 y ~ -UiHt Z. $ half dollav.
! Consequently tn .'res,rik, Of tine Con
/ federate Aaii-doilRrs ranks far above all or.
[ binary re-sJrucE coins.
/ 1t remains 70 be stated that great interest
! was excited on the part Of numlsmAtist,
1 throughout tie country by this enterprise
and that more subscriptions were sent IL
than could be received. since the number
I Of coins Wa limited 70 800. Consegu
/ the restrikes in silver command premium O.
/ - per cent. above the subscription price
4 This fact however, Is Of little interest u
/ those possessing them, since uumismatists
are not given 70 speculation. The vAiu,
/ placed by them upon their several collections
/ Is Of an historical nature. W. L. C.