Emil Segal was a fairly prolific Civil War die and token issuer. Emil and his three brothers immigrated from Germany before the Civil War. His oldest brother, Franz, was a general during the Civil War. Franz Segal had a controversial military career. He had a couple of bright moments including the charge during the Battle of Pea Ridge near Bentonville, Arkansas. For that his brother produced a Civil War token in his honor. Segal’s commanding officer stated that his contribution was overrated. His brother, Emil, produced this Civil War token in his honor. (Fuld 180/343a) This token is somewhat scarce and is rated as an R-4. Later he served well at the Second Battle of Bull Run, but since that was a Union defeat, he became involved in the finger pointing over who was responsible for the loss. Later Segal would fight with his superiors which led him to resign from the Union Army twice. His greatest contribution to Union cause was rally German immigrants to fight in the Union Army. Emil Segal made two more tokens that seemed to honor his brother, although he might have avoided mentioning him. On this later piece, "Hero of Pea Ridge" was not fully readable. (Fuld 180/343a R-1, very common. Emil Segal was known for his sloppy die work and execution, and this piece was no exception. Did he mean to leave off the Pea Ridge slogan? Probably not since his brother was still named on the token. Finally Segal issued this very rare piece which has stars in place of the "Hero of Pea Ridge" slogan. (Fuld 181/343b, a very scarce R-7) This piece was probably made for collectors back in the 1860s.
