Double Eagle Saved His Life

Being a history as well as a coin lover fortunate enough to live in a state covered in history, I was excited when the H.L. Hunley submarine was located in Charleston Harbor twenty years ago. Being a short hour drive from the house I went on a number of occasions to view the archeological excavations that were ongoing in North Charleston.

The captain of the submarine, Captain George Dixon was quite the colorful figure. It was long rumored that he would boast of surviving a gunshot wound due to the good fortune of the bullet striking a double eagle he was carrying..... When Captain Dixon’s remains were found in the sub, sure as the world they found a bent double eagle laid beside him. As I recall that was maybe 2000ish. I was so excited at the news that I took a day off to go view the piece. The photo below came from the web as I didn’t have a smartphone then..... He had the piece engraved, April 1862. My Life Preserver...... This is what totally engrosses me in this wonderful hobby of ours. Genuine American courage and human spirit living in this one gold coin. It just don’t get much more awesome to this old country boy.

 

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Holy smokes, that's incredible!

 

wow

 

Wonderful story. I hope nobody shoots at me (again) because I don't own a Double Eagle.

 

Wrote an Article about this few months ago, Great story!

 

You would think that a bullet would do more damage to a gold coin...

 

Not if it was a long shot and the velocity slowed as gravity pulled it down.

 

Fantastic story, thanks! It always amazes me when I look at early coinage and wonder who owned it and where had it been.

 

That's a fabulous Golden story.

 

Here's the other side... where did the ball hit - was it dead center?

 

I remember wondering the same thing when I viewed the piece. To my recollection, I don’t remember seeing an obvious deformation that would have answered that. I was left thinking it must have been something of a glancing strike.... But in all honesty, I couldn’t say. And I saw the piece.

 

That and the most widely used firearms of the era were muzzle loaders that were terribly inconsistent. Under battlefield conditions, who knows how much powder you got down the barrel. Or even how carefully it was packed.

 

Plus the ball would have been slowed and softened by layered clothing as well.

 

Wish I still had my mini ball collection. In my younger days they were plentiful and somewhat easy to find detecting. I had about a quarter full coffee can of them. I gave them all away to my young players when I was coaching litte league ball.

Edit... I did however keep the 3 1/2 pound cannonball I detected. My wife hates it sitting on the fireplace mantle.

 

So it seems that it actually didn't "save his life" if the coin has that little damage.

 

Well, not the second time.
Too soon?
I'm a terrible person.

 

It does look bent. And a ball of those days was soft lead. Not the modern bullets with brass casings it steel shot. Or armor piercing rounds. If it was slowing down in particular it could easily have deflected it