INTERESTING CIVIL WAR COUNTERMARK ON AN 1860-O HALF DOLLAR

In the civilwarindex.com PDF document, his name is listed as Orrin Mallett,
and he was 39 when he enlisted.

Thank you for your service, Oran.

 

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Interestingly enough, dog tags seemed to be exclusively the concern of Union troops. I don't know of a single example of a Confederate piece. While individual soldiers did carry crude forms of ID...names written in their uniform or carved in a belt buckle, a slip of paper in their pocket, etc., I've never heard of a Confederate dog tag. While all soldiers feared being killed and left unidentified, Union troops seemed more concerned with body identification of some type.

Bruce

 

There could be many reasons for that. There wasn't as much Confederate coinage as the Union had. The Confederates were in a much worse economic state then the Union so if a soldier did get money he would probably spend it or send it home. Confederate used more paper currency then the Union I think. (just guesses here, nothing to really back it up).

 

I don't know the reasons for it, but you may be right, rooman9. But then again it just might have been a different mindset.

Bruce

 

Cousin Brucie checkin' in..........ya gotta be from NY metro to understand that statement.

 

I get it, Ken. NY Metro, indeed! I'm South "Joisey", but I do like the "Gints" and Yanks.

Bruce

 

This piece here was examined By Alan @ Coinzip and myself last December at the Annandale Va. coin show. I venture to say it was taken off a dead solider and the information was punched over. We looked at this item under Alan's scope and could read some of the information. However for the most part it was hard to make out what was under the top scrip.
This is what I believe Bruce was refering to as a medal or token used as a dog tag. I had in hand one on a coin at the Annapolis show about 6 months Pryor to seeing this one in Va.

 

Could you make out enough to maybe help identify him, Paddy? I don't understand why anyone would randomly obliterate the writing like that, especially if it were a soldier's piece.

Bruce

 

@BRandM - find yours? I would love to see it and really enjoyed the OPs. I never knew about these. Your post taught me something.

 

Bruce I'm sure if you ask Alan he did scope it out however the scrip over the original lettering really did a number on the text.
Who ever did this really did it well, meaning they really did their best to cover everything . Try and enlarge my image.
Another dealer friend Ralph who had the coin in hand gave it to Alan to see if we could catch a few more of the lettering . I can make out" Frank" it's a shame as who knows who this belonged to and their fate.

 

I don't have a photo to download, Jack, but I'll dig the coin out tomorrow and take one.

Bruce

 

Very sad, Paddy. If you ever get to see anything else, please let us know.

Bruce

 

Small world, I'm about 15 miles west of Medina.

BTW, very neat coin OP, I wouldn't mind adding something like that to my collection.

 

Very small world indeed.

On a side note, Oran was born 189 years ago today. I bet it wasn't enjoyable to have a baby in the 1820s.

 

Ask any Mother , it's not so easy today either . Especially if they have them naturally like my wife did , no drugs . The Lamaze way .

 

That would be dreadful to have a baby without an epidural. Anyone who manages that has my utmost respect.

 

The Lamaze method was real big in the late '70s and early '80s , it was all about breathing . It was supposed to be better for the baby .

 

I took a quick picture of the coin that I believe was used for a dog tag.

Charles Buxton enlisted in Co G of the 1st Heavy Artillery, 11th Vermont Infantry when it was organized on August 11, 1862 in Bellows Falls, VT. He entered as a Captain and was promoted to Major just days before he was killed at Winchester, VA. on September 18, 1864. Military records indicate that he was "shot through the head" and died instantly. He was 30 years old and left a young wife at home.

Interestingly, Buxton kept a diary from May 12, 1864 until his death four months later (diaries were another form of body identification carried by soldiers). The diary was found in his uniform pocket on the battlefield and returned to his widow, Sophia. When she died the diary disappeared but resurfaced in about 1920 found in the drawer of a desk sold at auction. Eventually, it made it's way back to a relative of Buxton's who donated it to the Vermont Historical Society, where it resides today.

Buxton was a harness maker before the war, and in addition to my counterstamp, a second, unholed example is documented. This one was apparently meant to advertise his business, but I believe mine was suspended on a chain or something else and carried as military identification in the event of his death. The hole is heavily worn, suggesting that it saw rough use.

I researched Charles Buxton for nearly a year, and solicited the opinions of a number of researchers and historians as to the authenticity of the piece. Some felt that it was a legitimate military dog tag, while others didn't. I'll probably never be absolutely certain it was used as one, but my detailed investigation has pretty much convinced me that it was.

Bruce

 

Thanks Bruce! Great info and coin. Glad you took the time to do it!

 

Two thumbs up Bruce, great write up and history . Should I run across another I'll be sure to post some images.