I was surprised to find out that both dollars and half dollars were minted after the Confederate government took control of the New Orleans mint on January 26, 1861. Does anyone have information on the number of 1861-O half dollars that were minted by the Confederacy? How about 1861-o Morgans? And, were $10 gold pieces (or any other denominations in any metal) minted after secession?
As far as I know, the Confederacy only struck half dollars and $20 dollar gold pieces in New Orleans, $1 and $5 gold pieces in Charlotte, and $5 gold pieces in Dahlonega. IIRC, the Confederate Cents were struck privately in Philadelphia.
1861-O half dollars 330,000 struck by the United States 1,240,000 struck by the state of Louisiana 962,633 struck by the Confederate States of America 1861-O Morgans Zero Morgans weren't struck until 1878. They did not strike seated dollars in New Orleans in 1861 either. 1861-O double eagles 5,000 by the "United States 9,750 by the state of Louisiana 2,991 by the Confederate States of America It is possible to determine who struck any given 1861-O half dollar but at this time it is NOT possible to determine who struck any given 1861-O double eagle. No gold dollars were struck in Charlotte, they were struck in Dahlonega. They were all struck for the Confederacy but there are no records of how many were struck. Dahlonega did not strike half eagles for the Confederacy, the 1,597 coins were struck for the Union. Charlotte struck 887 half eagles for the Confederacy, the other 5,992 were struck by the Union. It is not possible to tell for whom a given coin was struck.
Thank you! Any idea why the state of Louisiana and the Confederacy struck half dollars but not dollars? I see that there were 1860-o's... were all of the planchets used? A dollar was a significant amount of money back then - were the 50 cent pieces just a more useful denomination?
I can't say for sure but most likely it was decided in Washington not strike any silver dollars in New Orleans in 1861 (After all they didn't need that many silver dollars for circulation, especially since the metal value exceeded the face value, so they probably didn't send any dollar dies to New Orleans at the end of 1860. No dies, few or no planchets on hand, meant no Louisiana or Confederate silver dollars.
The metal value exceeded the face value in 1861? Was there a silver shortage before the Civil War for some reason? With the recent strikes in the American west, I thought there was a glut on silver that didn't ease until around 1906.
Traced this back to an early die stage of the WB-104, minted either late by the State of Louisiana or early by the Confederacy. Picked it up several months ago really cheap.
Here's the different varieties http://www.stellacoinnews.com/index.php/seated-half-dollars-1861-o/ Mine would be an R4 if it were the full die state but its just early. :/
If it is actually a speared berry then it was issued by the Confederacy (That's the same reverse as on my own coin.) The variety numbers listed in the Wiley -Bugart book do not relate closely to the emission sequence and the WB-104 is now separated into two varieties W-14 and W-15. An early 104 would be the W-14 and it should show a vertical die crack down between the 8 & 6. If the crack is not there then it is probably a late 104, W-15 and is paired with obv 1 that was originally used by the US and was the last die pair used by the Confederacy. (The obv die from W-14 was in it's second usage. In it's uncraked state it was paired with a different reverse, not the speared berry.) In the early 1850s the gold discoveries in California had caused the value of gold to decline and the silver in the coins, as priced in gold was now worth more than the face value. That was why the weight of the silver subsidiary coins was reduced in 1853. But they didn't reduce the silver content of the silver dollar so from 1853 until at least the late 1860's the silver in a silver dollar was worth approximately $1.04 in subsidiary coinage. The uncertainy caused by the war also drove up the price of silver. the average in 1860 was $1.29 an oz but by 1864 it had risen to $2.94 an oz. (at $1.2929 the silver in a silver dollar = $1 in metal So by 1864 a silver dollar contained over $2 in metal.) By the late 1860's the silver coming from the western mines was causing silver to drop but it didn't reach the break even point again until 1877.
