On January 29, 1861 – a few months before the Civil War began – John Adams Dix, US Treasury Secretary, issued an order saying a Federal revenue cutter must not be allowed to fall into the hands of Southern sympathizers in New Orleans. He concluded the message with, “If anyone attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the spot.” While a telegram bearing the message was stopped in Alabama, word got out and the line became a rallying cry in the North during the war.
There is an error variety of the Dix token that reads, “Shoot him on the spoot.” There are several minor varieties of this design.
Yes, very patient. They come up, but I have only seen a few nice ones. I had a no problem EF when I was dealer that I sold. A dealer had an MS-65 R&B at the last Winter FUN show, but he wasn't selling it. Most of them seem to have problems.
I was raised in Maryland, been to Antietam many times, Gettysburg once. I love that period of history, and any old US coin I have, if it is pre 1865 I often imagine it being circulated during the Civil War years.
Took the kids to the West Point Foundry last weekend. Beautiful place to hike with lots of Civil War history. It's where the Parrot gun was manufactured as depicted on the reverse of these civil war tokens.
Here are both sides of one of the "shoot him on the spot" tokens. The American flag on the obverse is obviously part of the message.