The Confederate Half Dollar
& Scott Token

A circa 1910 article, by B. Max Mehl, about the Confederate half dollar and Scott token. Image (above) links to Halves at Mintmark.com.

The Confederate Half-Dollar
by B. Max Mehl

The Only Numismatic Record of a Nation of Nine Million of People Who Maintained a Precarious Existence in the Face of Overwhelming Odds for the Space of Nearly Four Years and a Half

The beginning of the year 1910 was signalized in a numismatic way by the offering for sale of the only known specimen of the official metallic coinage of the Confederate States of America.

Coming from its resting place in a safe deposit vault where it had lain for 28 years, this unique half dollar created quite a sensation in the numismatic world, and, on account of its unusual historical significance, caused much interest among the lay world, which is always intensely alive to any souvenir or relic that is so closely associated with the Lost Cause.

There are very few American coins today that can be said to rank in interest with this half dollar, with its authoritative U.S. obverse and distinctive Confederate States reverse design. Such a unique combination of the official devices of two great opposing powers probably has not another parallel in history.

The story of the finding of the Confederate half dollar is as follows: E. Mason, Jr., a Philadelphia numismatist, prepared an article on rare coins for a New York newspaper, which appeared on January 2, 1879. A few days later he received a communication from B. F. Taylor, M.D., then the secretary and treasurer of the Louisiana State Board of Health, stating that he had a Confederate coin in his possession and a few months later sent to Mr. Mason the original coin and die.

Mr. Taylor had been chief coiner of the Confederate mint, and said the United States mint had been turned over to the Confederate States of America by the State of Louisiana the last day of February, 1861. The old officers were retained by the Confederate government, viz: Wm. A. Elmore, Superintendent; A. J. Guirot, Treasurer; M. F. Bonzano, Melter and Refiner, and Howard Milspaugh, Assayer.

In April, Secretary Memminger of the Confederate Treasury, ordered that designs for half dollar pieces be submitted him for approval. The design selected was the one now familiar, and the dies were engraved by A. H. M. Peterson, engraver and die sinker, and were prepared for the coining press by Conrad Schmidt, foreman of the coining room.

It was found for some reason the dies could not be fitted to the regular coining press, so it was necessary to use the old hand screw press, upon which four coins were struck.

One of these coins was given to the Confederate government, probably is the one which Jefferson Davis is said to have owned. The second coin was presented to Prof. Biddle¹ of the University of Louisiana; the third to Dr. E. Ames of New Orleans, and the fourth was kept by Chief Coiner Taylor.

About this time an order came from the secretary suspending operations on account of the difficulty of obtaining bullion, and the mint was closed on April 30, 1861.

Mr. Mason disposed of the coin and Confederate reverse die to a New York dealer² in 1879, who wrote a letter to Jefferson Davis in reference to the coin, and received the following reply:

"Beauvoir, P. O. Harrison Co., Miss. May 10th, 1867

Sir:

I had a Confederate coin. It was in my wife's trunk when it was rifled by the Federal officers on board the prison ship on which she was detained at Hampton Roads before and after my confinement in Fortress Monroe. The coin, some medals and other valuables were stolen at that time. Whether the coin be the same which has been offered to you as a duplicate, I cannot say. It is, however, not true, as published, that it is now in my possession.

Respectfully, Jefferson Davis"

The dealer obtained 500 1861 half dollars bearing the New Orleans mint letter, and had the reverse design removed from each. Then the coins were restamped with the reverse die of the Confederate half dollar [these coins are known as Confederate half-dollar restrikes or Scott restrikes]. The die broke on the first trial, then had to be set in a heavy steel band to prevent further damage.

The 500 half dollars of the N. O. Mint were obtained only after much difficulty. After the restrike had been made the die was defaced by filing a deep groove across the face and a brass piece was struck from the defaced die to show what had been done.

What became of the other three coins seems destined to remain a mystery. Judging by the letter of Jefferson Davis, it would seem that the Confederate President at one time owned a specimen, which may have been the one said to have been given to the Confederate government at the time the pieces were coined.

The other two specimens, one of which is said to have been given to Prof. Biddle¹ of the Louisiana University, and the other to a Dr. Ames of New Orleans, have never been heard of from that day to this, so far as known, and probably now are no longer in existence³.

• Footnotes
¹ According to Red Book author R. S. Yeoman, the professor's name was actually J. L. Riddell.
² Yeoman reports the dealer was J. W. Scott & Co. In addition to his CSA (Confederate States of America) half-dollar restrikes (c. 1879; mintage 500), J. W. Scott struck 500 tokens (c. 1879) in white metal using the Confederate reverse die and a special die bearing the inscription 4 ORIGINALS STRUCK BY ORDER OF C. S. A. IN NEW ORLEANS 1861 ******* REV. SAME AS U.S. (FROM ORIGINAL DIE SCOTT).
³ According to the Red Book, only four original CSA half dollars are known to exist. In October, 2003, one such coin in Very Fine condition sold at auction (Stack's) for US$632,500.

• About the Author and Article
B. Max Mehl (1884-1957) of Forth Worth, Texas, was America's most colorful coin dealer during the first half of the 20th century. This article, The Confederate Half-Dollar, is from the 20th edition (1921) of his coin catalog, The Star Rare Coin Encyclopedia. Evidence in this article suggests this article may have been first written in 1910. Mehl's publications are highly collectible, and some are still available in fine condition. Annotated, edited and revised by Mintmark.com. Original article used by permission or in the public domain. This version is copyright © by Mintmark Numismatics, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

• How to Cite this Page (Modified MLA Style)
"The Confederate Half-Dollar." Mintmark.com [Web site]. Jacksonville, FL:
Mintmark Numismatics, Inc., 1997. http://www.mintmark.com/confederatehalfdollarscotttoken.html