Grade this Great Harvest Campaign Cherrypick

By the way, are the dies rotated?

 

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Theoretically you don't, but I think it would be relatively easy to determine fakes. The typeface is somewhat unique for each state, as well as the configuration of the letters/numbers. By now the legit patterns are known and things that deviate from those are easily detected. This would trigger a lot of study before confirming a new one as legit.

There is also the issue of "does it look right". Oxidation, dirt, wear, etc also have to be right.

 

These are pretty cool. I had no idea that these existed. Yet another thing to keep an eye out for. For the record, I can see it as an AU-53.

 

@HawkeEye, I somewhat agree that my guess of 1000 could be high, but Alna Wilde owned or examined the following with numbers approaching 1,000 or higher;

GA 457
MISS 609
NC 536 & 1767 (both UDC)
TN 1396 & 1582 (also UDC's)
VA 1167 (UDC).

Because there are also a number of known UDC examples with numbers <1k, it rules out (?) the possibility that the UDC's recieved a '1' before the serial number. Also, all the know SL/GL examples are numbered below 100.

There have been varying thoughts on what the numbering corresponded to as you stated, so unless something gets uncovered (found?) at some point, it has been, and will be a guessing game. One thought I had was that the numbers were random, but that wouldn't make complete sense with the known numbers. There is also an interestingly high proportion of duplicate numbers (ALA 4, MISS 4, & N CAR 4) and consecutive numbers among known examples (LA 35 & LA 36). With so few known, I find it odd that there are 'so many' duplicates and consecutives.

As for Missouri, I doubt there ever were any commissioned for Missouri, as it was not one of the States of the Confederacy. It was claimed by the Confederacy, but never under its control. Which makes the Kentucky issue a little perplexing, as it was in the same 'claimed but not controlled' status as Missouri. There are (were as of 1987/88) only 3 Kentucky's known (could more, but I only see 2 on PCGS, and can't find pop report for NGC). My guess is that sales in KY weren't good, as Kentuckians may have wanted to not be considered a Confederate State, and the marketing board may have felt it not worth doing it in Missouri? There is also a small possibility that if they were offered in Missouri, they may have carried the same MISS as Mississippi, so the two states would have been intermingled, and only one set of numbers produced? That again is pure conjecture.

I have a feeling that this will forever be a numismatic mystery, unless some information that is tucked away in a basement filing cabinet somewhere gets unearthed.

 

On my example, the dies are slightly (<10°) rotated. Is there a significance to a die rotation of these?

 

I believe the UDC coins had the chapter number on them and not a sequential number. The sequential numbers were only for the auction. But more research is needed.

The sequential numbers were within each state, so the numbering started over at 1 for each state and the uniqueness was in the state designation.

On Kentucky you might be right because they were a border state, and the same with Missouri. But I think Missouri sent representatives to the Harvest Campaign Ball in Atlanta which would indicate sales. But the Ball was also a bit of a beauty contest as well as a sales contest. Also needs more research.

 

ANACS certifies both a DDR and a DDR/DDO version and in looking at them online they appear on loose dies and sometimes these are rotated. But 10% doesn't sound like much.

 

I see it as an AU 50

 

I agree. The natural strike for these often has very soft details that can be read as wear. This is definitely a circulated coin, but I think in the low AU state. But the softness of the strike also makes for interesting results from the graders. You can have an MS coin with as much flatness to the leg and eagle's breast that is not from wear but poor strike.

 

I bought one for face value about 8 years or so ago and thought it was ruined because some idiot had stamped it. I thought at least it's silver and threw it in my junk silver pile for 2 years before seeing a post about showing your Stone Mountain coins. I posted it and added, it was ruined because of the stamping, when someone told me what I had and I sent it to PCGS to be graded. I sold it in 2017.

1925 50C Stone Mountain - TEXAS/VA AU58 PCGS. PCGS | Lot #8399 | Heritage Auctions

 

These are sweet pieces of our history.
Thanks for reviving the thread.
Very cool!

 

I believe I corresponded with the purchaser of the coin and it is a nice one.

There was another one on Heritage last week, a G04. I bid what I thought was an outrageous amount for it and did not win. They are popular for those who specialize in them. It is a small club, but dedicated.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/commemorat.../1291-9256.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515

 

“Additional information regarding the countermarking of some of the Stone Mountain commemorative half dollars comes to us from C. H. Ohr, Honey Grove, Texas. He says:


‘I was local chairman selling the coins in Honey Grove, Texas, and I had one coin stamped ‘No. 143,’ the number of my district, and ‘Texas’ also stamped. These special coins were sold to the highest bidders and brought as much as $262 each in one town. There was only one of each particular stamp, and I suppose Tennessee did the same thing as the Texas State Committee.’

This practice, taken in connection with a similar report from Georgia in last month’s issue, and the existence of those stamped in Tennessee, indicates that each Southern State was represented in the intensive campaign to market the Stone Mountain half dollars. In time perhaps quite an array of such counterstamped piece will find their way into collections. It is quite probable, however, that the buyers of these particular coins at auction, for which fancy prices were paid, will prefer to retain them as souvenirs during their lifetime.”5

5 The Numismatist, Countermarked Stone Mountain Half Dollars, July, 1932, p. 455.

 

Outside of this discussion I am working on a die study of the series (all SMH not counterstamps) and it is proving to be quite interesting. I still have 60 coins to post to the web site, but I will get there in April.

 

Leeg's a blasted Anthony Swiatek.......

 

Certainly true and unfortunately unless they pass them along to other collectors their heirs might just let them go for next to no premium.

 

Revealing my ignorance, but want to know what SL and GL mean.

Steve

 

Silver Lavaliere and Gold Lavaliere






I first started researching the 50 piece series of commemorative coins in 2009. At that time I received a brochure from the Manuscript and Rare Book Library at Emory University in Atlanta that sheds light on the meaning of the ‘S.L.’ and ‘G.L.’ counterstamps. This brochure, which is titled ‘Confederate Memorial Appreciation Contest,’ was produced in connection with the Harvest Campaign, and describes a contest for young Southern women selling Stone Mountain half dollars.

As it just so happens, Steve Deitert wrote an article for The Numismatist, dated January 2011 and titled, ‘unraveling the mystery of the Counterstamped Half Dollars,’ which verified that our opinions were the same around this subject. Thanks Steve. Steve is a member of the NGC Coin Forum and we had some conversations there about this. Here is the part of Steve’s article about the G.L and S.L counterstamps:

The Mysterious Counterstamps

A brochure issued by the Stone Mountain Monumental Association recently surfaced in the Manuscript and Rare Book Library at Emory University in Atlanta and sheds light on the meaning of the ‘S.L.’ and ‘G.L.’ counterstamps. Titled ‘Confederate Memorial Appreciation Contest,’ it was produced in connection with the Harvest Campaign and describes a contest for young Southern women selling Stone Mountain half dollars.

Conducted at the town, county, and state level, the contest was open to women between the ages of 15 and 25. Winners at the town level were those who sold the most coins up to one week after the municipality met its quota.

They then advanced to the county contest, which awarded points for coin sales and ingenuity, and considered factors such as the local economy and the effect of sales prior to the Harvest Campaign.

The first-and second-place county winners went on to compete at the state level at a governor’s ball or reception to be held by December 10, 1925. A committee appointed by the governor selected two girls (based on their coin sales, charm, beauty and culture) to represent the state at an All-southern Costume Ball in Atlanta to be held January 19, 1926. There, judges representing the entire southern region of the United States were to choose the grand-prize winner. The young woman selected was to receive a trip to Europe and a marble bust sculpted by Lukeman. (A contemporary newspaper account indicated the event, renamed the ‘Grand Appreciation Ball,’ was not held until May 24, 1926.)

However, it is the prizes awarded that explain the winners of the county contests that explain the ‘S.L.’ and ‘G.L.’ counterstamped half dollars. The brochure stated:

The two girls making the best all-round records in a county will be declared the county winners. The first girl will receive from the Governor of the State a gold mounted lavalier coin stamped with a number setting it apart and making it different from all other coins. The second girl will receive a silver mounted lavalier coin similarly stamped. With each lavalier coin will go a certificate of appreciation signed by the Governor and bearing the Seal of the State.

This along with the fact that all known ‘S.L.’ and ‘G.L.’ counterstamped coins are mounted respectively, in a silver or gold lavalier (pendant or bezel), or show signs of having been mounted, seems to establish that these pieces were awarded as first and second prizes to young ladies in the county contest.

It was decided not to award a grand prize at the ball, but to present each of the finalists a gold medal. The May 1926 Atlanta Constitution quoted Judge William H. Ellis of the Florida Supreme Court as saying, ‘Among the 29 sponsors, each one of whom possesses in eminent degree all the qualities necessary to a successful contest, it would be a mere matter of individual taste to award the prize to any one of them.’

So, according to an obscure reference, it seems the ‘S.L.’ and ‘G.L.’ countermarks on 1925 Stone Mountain half dollars identified pieces to be presented to young women for their efforts to sell the commemorative coins. Mystery solved!



enjoy

 

What did it grade?!

 

leeg's explanation is certainly thorough and I would only say that I have a little more at http://www.stonemountainhalf.com/harvestcampaign.html

I can only say that if you enjoy studying die varieties and errors this series has a lot to offer. So far the Holy Grail might be a well struck one as most have some form of problem from collapsed dies, to cracked dies, to overstrikes, to unrecognized overstrikes. I am having a lot of fun investigating this one.