United States: 1863 bronze patriotic Civil War token, "Our Little Monitor" type

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I really like the Monitor tokens. It's ironic though, by the time these were produced the Monitor was on the bottom of the ocean! There were other Monitor class ships built though, I think the final one sailed it's last around 1907.

 

This is a cool token. I think I have one on my MA-Shops watch list.

 

The Civil War tokens are about historic as it gets. I also have a thing for them but I never had a Monitor.

Bruce

 

Geez, I told you so, you have everything. I am very very jealous. Next lifetime I plan to do something about it, so there!

 

Here is a variety set of CWT Monitor tokens. There are more than these. I set these pieces aside over time when I was a dealer. The first Monitors I handled cost me about $10 30+ years ago.

Fuld 237/423



Fuld 238/402, an Indiana primative. H.D. Higgins made the obverse die by making a copy die from 237, the piece above.



Fuld 238/402, also an Indiana primative



Fuld 239



Fuld 240/337 The obverse dies for the next two varieties were very rusty.



Fuld 241/336



Fuld 257/311 There is a small Monitor behind the soldier



This is not listed as a Civil War token, but if you are into the Monitor, you will probably want this one.

 

I would love one of those examples in my collection someday.

Monitor class ships were still fighting up through WWII and even Vietnam on the rivers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monitor_(warship)


Rick L.

 

Nice piece of history very near to my heart, being a southerner. What were these used for, ferry operations?

 

The name "Monitor" lays out what it was thought the ship's role would be. It was supposed to monitor the waterways around forts and harbors. The ship was not very seaworthy and did not fare well in rough water. The Monitor sank in rough seas when it was being towed off of North Carolina, I believe.

The Confederacy had its iron clad, The Virginia. It was built from the burned out hull of the Union ship Merrimac. It too was slow and was way underpowered, but the Union was afraid of what it might do. The concern was that the Confederate Navy would move up the Potomac River and bombard Washington, DC.

The reality was the weather and seas would have to have been perfect for the Virginia to have done that. It could barely waddle on the water, and was quite top heavy.

The two ships squared off at Hampton Roads, Virginia in the spring of 1862. They fought to a draw with neither one gaining the advantage. The Union won in a way because the Monitor was able to neutralize “the monster” the North had feared.

Later the Confederates blew up The Virginia when it looked like it would fall into Union hands.

In the early 1900s, iron was recovered from The Virginia wreck. It was used to tokens and other trinkets. At one time The Virginia tokens were listed with the Civil War tokens, but they were delisted when it was shown that they were struck circa 1905.

Here’s my example of that token. It is rusted and terrible. Nice ones sell for over $3,000.



This little horseshoe and card was another of The Virginia trinkets.

 

I remember the Monitor and Merrimac. So it was struck with metal from that "ship"? I used to have a medal from the USS Constellation, it was given out for an admission fee to board some old boat harbored in the Chesapeake Bay. I went on that boat as a kid (brief tour) when I was 11 years old. I remember the trip but somehow lost the medal. I just wondered if it ever had a practical use.

 

I think the ship you saw in Baltimore or the Chesapeake Bay was the Constellation. It was thought to be the sister ship to the USS Constitution until naval historians looked at its dimentions. It was determined that it was too narrow in the midships to be the original Constellation. It was determined that it was of a Civil War era vintage.