Welcome to my 33,000 plus posts. I went over this morning. I'm posting a Civil War Token, known as the DIX Token. It is known as a patriotic token and they were privately minted in the early days of the American Civil War. They were used as currency in parts of the country due to an insufficient number of government issued cents. The United States Congress passed a law on April 22, 1864 banning their use. Numismatist George J. Fuld has identified a wide variety of dies used to make these tokens, some with very subtle differences. The reference number constitutes a range of possible combinations. The first number represents the die number of the obverse, while the second number represents the die number of the reverse. For example, a very common pairing of the two is known as Fuld 207/409. These numbers can include sub-varieties, for example Fuld 209/409a, and are subject to revision. The slogan "Shoot him on the spot" comes from James DIX. He was the Secretary of the Treasury and James Dix sent a telegram to Treasury agents in Louisiana: "If any one attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the spot." This quote is on the token’s reverse. One of the dies had a misspelling of the word "SPOT". It was spelled "SPOOT". My token has the misspelling and it is highly sought after. The obverse has the date of 1863 with 13 stars representing the 13 original colonies surrounding the flag of the United States. There are 25 stars on the flag. DIX is Centered on the reverse with 2 rows of the telegram message that James DIX sent to the Louisiana Treasury agents. As stated, this token reads "SHOOT HIM ON THE SPOOT".
As I understand it the misspelling occurred because of the word SHOOT but not due to rhyming it. However there are no hard facts to support that claim.
Glad you like it. I have lots of coins to post. I found a mess of parcels that are from 2 and 3 years ago that I'm just now opening up. This was a recent purchase and I'm looking for a decent correctly spelled one at a good price.
I want one of those SPOOT errors, and have, for a while! I'll bet the guy who punched the die got shot on the spoot himself, when they discovered that! LOL (Luckily, getting shot on your spoot is survivable most of the time, with it being nonexistent and all.)
I got mine at a decent price so they are out there. Keep looking and exercise patience. The right one will be there.
Love it! I always wanted one of these errors, and earlier this year I grabbed one.(not as nice as the OP)