A Prize Coin. An 1852? Dime That Was Apparently Repurposed In 1864

Does seem like a common name, but here is a link to one such woman, who would have been in her early 40s when this coin was countermarked. She also partially fits the geographic profile of the so-called Euchre belt of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

https://iagenweb.org/boards/howard/...?read=684298

I found a couple others with the same name and similar geography, but who would have been teenagers in 1864. I kinda picture Eucre as more of a grown-up game like bridge, but that could be a misconception of mine, especially more than 150 years ago. For completeness:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial...len-m.-morse
https://ancestors.familysearch.org/...se-1852-1875

Please let us know if you ever find the answer!


Added: found a little provenance for you on this piece. It went unsold at the 2018 Skinner auction, when it was part of a lot of similar pieces:

https://www.skinnerinc.com/auctions...2T/lots/1192

Very interesting piece.

@BH1964 .... Wrong. Over 1.5 million dimes were struck at the Philly Mint in 1852.

The dates on the 1842 dimes tend to be smaller numerals, so this dime is either 1852 or 1862, methinks.

@Spence .... Thanks for the leads! I'll look into them.

@jpsned .... Sometimes one clue leads to another. If I can check out newspapers in suspected areas, I might run across something re EUCHRE.

One of my best c/s attribution efforts took me all of ten years, I have two early large cents thatsimply have multiple L. TEMPLE c/s's on them. I found two guys by that name in early directories, Levi Temple of Maine and Lewis Temple of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Both were blacksmiths - a mundane occupation. Neither had a middle initial, so clues were lacking.

Upon investigating them both, Lewis was the more likely issuer. He manufactured harpoons. He won a prize at a Boston exhibition in the 1840's. Interestingly, Lewis was an escaped slave and active in the A.A.S.S. - American Anti-Slavery Society. He attended church with Frederick Douglass.

The only way I could positively attribute the c/s's to Lewis would be to find a matching stamp on one of his toggle-head harpoons. He made many hundreds, if not thousands of harpoons. A single ship would take a few hundred or more of them on a hunt, costing $1 apiece. It's doubtful that Lewis took the time and effort to stamp them all.

Over the years, I tried to lacate a stamped harpoon. Upon finally locating one in a museum, they provided me with close-up pics, AND the coin/harpoon name stamps positively match by font and size-wise. It was a long but rewarding journey.

My apologies. You are correct. It could be 1842 or 1852 both were Type 3. 1862 was a Type 5 with a different design so it can excluded.

If someone is willing to search through all '42 and '52 varieties you may be able to get a conclusive answer. I think it is an 1852 because the 2 looks nearly closed while the 1842 has a 2 that appears more open.

ExoGuy, thanks for another great post! Yes, Euchre is a regional game and I learned to play when I was a teen in the 60's living in Ontario, Canada. I also know it is popular where I have a house in Maine maybe because lots of Canadians from Quebec vacation there. I'm not aware of euchre being played here in CT. I will do some checking and will share if I find anything that might help you.

One suggestion I have that you might give a try...
Get ahold of a postal stamp cover collector. These folks are often very good at tracking down information about those who's names (sender and addressee) appear on old mailed covers.