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Which Classic US Coins Have The Most Historical Significance In Your Collection And Why?

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 Posted 11/28/2022  11:19 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add kbbpll to your friends list
The historical significance of this one is probably mostly personal, although more generally it represents aspects of the Civil War era, namely counterfeiting. More famous is the story of Samuel Upham and his counterfeiting of confederate notes, but it seems that fake coins were rife on the Union side as well.

This is my contemporary counterfeit 1861 dime. Type 101, and according to https://www.seateddimevarieties.com..._101page.htm "by far the most common counterfeit Seated dime."

It came to me via my grandmother and my great-great-grandfather George Emory Logue. He enlisted in the Wisconsin infantry October 28, 1861, less than two weeks after his 17th birthday, and reenlisted as a veteran three years later in early 1864. He served with his father and brother, both of whom were imprisoned at Andersonville. He married my great-great-grandmother in 1879, when he was 35 and she was 16. He only lived another 12 years and died at 47, which my grandmother attributed to the war and the hard drinking afterwards.

I picture him scratching through the reverse when he realized he'd been duped by a fake dime. It sat in my collection for 40 years before I realized it was fake myself!

Which-Classic-US-Coins-Have-The-Most-Historical-Significance-In-Your-Collection-And-Why?
Which-Classic-US-Coins-Have-The-Most-Historical-Significance-In-Your-Collection-And-Why?
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 Posted 11/28/2022  11:26 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add CarrsCoins to your friends list
thats one of the most interesting pieces of provenance ive ever seen. thanks for sharing that kbbpll
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 Posted 11/29/2022  11:38 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add GERMANICVS to your friends list
Thank you for sharing such an interesting family history with us, kbbpll.

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 Posted 11/29/2022  12:02 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add GERMANICVS to your friends list
This William Pitt Fathing is probably the coin in my collection which has the most historical significance as it relates to America.

The Pitt farthing, as well as the Pitt halfpenny are not U.S coins, and were likely not even struck in America.

However, they are very relevant to American history because they were struck to commemorate an event, namely the Stamp Act of 1765 which is considered to be one of the factors which directly led to the American Revolution.

The Stamp or Tax Act was passed by the English Parliament in 1765. It empowered the Crown to tax the American Colonies on a wide range of transactions and documents, as well as some goods of everyday life. The revenue was intended to be used toward the costs of up-keep of the British standing Army in North America.

The reaction among the Colonists to the passing of the Tax Act was predictable...

The person honoured in this coin is William Pitt, a member of the British Parliament who sided with the American colonists, and actively campaigned in Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act.



Which-Classic-US-Coins-Have-The-Most-Historical-Significance-In-Your-Collection-And-Why?
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 Posted 11/29/2022  1:07 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add numismatic student to your friends list
Wow! Great stuff kppbll and Germanicvs.
IN NECESSARIIS UNITAS - IN DUBIIS LIBERTAS - IN OMNIBUS CARITAS
THE MAN IN THE ARENA, Theodore Roosevelt at the Sorbonne Paris on April 23, 1910: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
My coin website:https://fairfaxcoins.com
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 Posted 11/29/2022  1:57 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add jbuck to your friends list

Quote:
This William Pitt Fathing is probably the coin in my collection which has the most historical significance as it relates to America...
Excellent!
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 Posted 11/29/2022  3:21 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add barryg to your friends list
To be honest, all my coins are of equal historic significance (to me, at least).

The whole reason I became interested in collecting coins in the first place was the realization that each of these little pieces of metal were owned by somebody in the (sometimes distant) past and have been handed down throughout many generations until finally finding a temporary resting place in my collection. They are, in other words, a connection to the past and a way to experience the storied history of this country by holding it in my hand.

If I had to pick one or two that are somehow especially significant from a historical standpoint, I guess I'd go with this example from the earliest days of the Republic:

Which-Classic-US-Coins-Have-The-Most-Historical-Significance-In-Your-Collection-And-Why? Which-Classic-US-Coins-Have-The-Most-Historical-Significance-In-Your-Collection-And-Why?

And this example from the earliest days of the U.S. Mint:

Which-Classic-US-Coins-Have-The-Most-Historical-Significance-In-Your-Collection-And-Why? Which-Classic-US-Coins-Have-The-Most-Historical-Significance-In-Your-Collection-And-Why?
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 Posted 12/05/2022  4:06 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Adam590 to your friends list
Thanks for choosing this topic @numismaticstudent! I am not sure I can compete with the cool stamped specimens, or first year issues I have seen here (and I love seeing them!), but I'm not here to compete. I have always loved collecting coins from historically significant dates. To say that the USA has a tumultuous history would be an understatement. One of my childhood numismatic goals was to collect a nice 1838-O, as I a) love the no star obverse and b) see this coin as a witness of the USA's dark, genocidal Trail of Tears. Being minted in New Orleans, this coin came into existence in the route of the Seminoles' forced march.

My career has been mostly in education, and has mostly been international (the USA, China, Japan, Bulgaria, and Kazakhstan are the locations I have actually worked), with numismatics as a hobby, so I have a great appreciation for the need to embrace history and learn from it. Visiting the state capitol in Arizona once (in 2009 I think) I saw the quote "A nation that forgets its past has no future" attributed to Thomas Jefferson and immediately admired the sentiment. I can say that that all politics aside (I am not seeking a political conversation here), part of really loving one's country (which I do!) is being honest about the darkest parts of the history and heritage and using those lessons to try and do better in the future. The Trail of Tears is a frightening moment in the growth and development of the young American nation, rivaling the Armenian Genocide at the beginning of World War I. In January 2021 I finally acquired my 1838-O (actually it is 1838-O/O) dime in a decent grade. NGC liked it enough to straight grade it--PCGS did not. Here it is for your enjoyment. Personally, I kind of wish it was in an MS(60) holder...

I will repeat the cliche here: "the coin looks better in person than it does in the photos"


Which-Classic-US-Coins-Have-The-Most-Historical-Significance-In-Your-Collection-And-Why?
Which-Classic-US-Coins-Have-The-Most-Historical-Significance-In-Your-Collection-And-Why?

Which-Classic-US-Coins-Have-The-Most-Historical-Significance-In-Your-Collection-And-Why?
Edited by Adam590
12/05/2022 5:16 pm
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 Posted 12/05/2022  5:17 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add numismatic student to your friends list
Another avatar-worthy coin. Bet it was tough deciding whether to submit this one in the eye-appeal thread or this one. Congrats on acquiring this special coin.
IN NECESSARIIS UNITAS - IN DUBIIS LIBERTAS - IN OMNIBUS CARITAS
THE MAN IN THE ARENA, Theodore Roosevelt at the Sorbonne Paris on April 23, 1910: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
My coin website:https://fairfaxcoins.com
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 Posted 12/06/2022  6:39 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add eaglebub7 to your friends list
You could have titled this historical eye candy. Lots of beautiful coins here!
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 Posted 09/20/2023  2:57 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add numismatic student to your friends list
Not a U.S. coin but the historical early precursor of the U.S. half dollar coin.

The first coins struck in the New World were made at the initial Mexico City Mint which was located in the home of Spanish conquistador of Mexico Hernan Cortes. Smaller denominations were made initially in 1536 and the larger 4 reales and the extremely rare 8 reales coins were made in 1537 and early 1538. This was 44 years after Columbus landed in the New World in 1492. Cortes conquered Mexico in 1519.

I was traveling in Spain earlier this year and I was looking for this coin but found it here and acquired it today. Daniel Sedgwick does a great job documenting the first coins struck from dies made in the New World in the link here: https://www.sedwickcoins.com/articl...osyjuana.pdf

As always, let me know your thoughts on the coin.

The First 4 Reales Coin Struck in the New World

One interesting thing about this coin is that the crown above the shield continues past the shield on the right hand side and provides an example of the primitive die cutting methods of the earliest efforts to produce coinage in the New World.

Which-Classic-US-Coins-Have-The-Most-Historical-Significance-In-Your-Collection-And-Why?
Which-Classic-US-Coins-Have-The-Most-Historical-Significance-In-Your-Collection-And-Why?

MEXICO, Colonial. Juana y Carlos. Queen & King of Spain, 1506-1516. AR 4 Reales (32mm, 13.38 g, 7h). Early series. Mexico City mint; Francisco del Rincón, assayer. Struck 1537-1538. Crowned coat-of-arms / Crowned Pillars of Hercules; PLVS in oval lozenge at center. Nesmith 6b/6a (for obv./rev.); Menzell Mx-11; BW 8. Toned, usual double strike. Good VF. Rare. Among the earliest coinage of the New World and the first 4 Real struck in the hemisphere. Excellent condition for the type with a very clear strike.

On 18 November 1537 a royal decree authorized the minting of 4 and 8 Reales at the Mexico City mint, the earliest instance of these denominations in the New World. Only a handful of trial strikes were made for the 8 Real, making the 4 Real the largest collectable denomination from this issue and the first "half dollar" struck in this hemisphere.
IN NECESSARIIS UNITAS - IN DUBIIS LIBERTAS - IN OMNIBUS CARITAS
THE MAN IN THE ARENA, Theodore Roosevelt at the Sorbonne Paris on April 23, 1910: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
My coin website:https://fairfaxcoins.com
Edited by numismatic student
09/20/2023 3:49 pm
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