I recently had a small coin collection passed down from a deceased grandparent. One of the coins in the collection I haven't been able to find anywhere in a pricing guide. It's an 1864, Abraham Lincoln, small gold (?) coin. One the front is has a bust of Lincoln with '1864' at the bottom and is bordered in stars. The back also has the date, is bordered with the name "ABRAHAM LINCOLN", and has the words "Freedom", "Justice", and "Truth" in the center. The coin is very very small, maybe 1/2" in diameter. All of the coins in the collection are from 1902 or earlier, with many from the civil war era, so I think the date is correct. If anyone has any info I'd be very pleased to hear about it. Thanks.
Howdy sofrosune - Welcome to the Forum !! It's not really a coin and I doubt it was made in 1864. It sounds like what you have is some kind of medal or novelty issued by one of the modern day private mints. Items like this are made all the time by the private mints and then sold to collectors.
Thats not a US coin, unless it's a pattern. I might be wrong but i've never seen that one b4. Does it have a denomination that's readable? US coinage will have a denomination on it, like Cent or Dollar or half Dollar....sum like that!
As a matter of fact, I saw this while searching online a few days ago trying to find out about the 1854 FE Cent Pattern. That is a pattern for a slightly smaller large cent which never took off. I can't remember much more about it though, and I'd advise looking through a google search to find pattern coins. ~AJ
Found it! Still not sure exactly what it is, but it's definitely a Civil War Token. If anybody has access to "Coin Values Magazine," there is a picture of a coin with exactly that picture on page 62 of the October, 05 issue. This coin has a motto around the rim reading "The Right Man in the Right Place," and it has a date of 1864. Hopefully this info will get you closer to figuring it out! ~AJ
I would disagree with you. It is something that resembles a Civil War token, but I believe that to be all. There were 13 different "Lincoln" dies used to make cwts, and the item in question is very close to Patriotic die 127. (first attempt at posting a pic here, so don't be surprised if it doesn't work.) 18mm is about the smallest diameter cwt that I am aware of, so the OP's indication of the 12-13mm range is much too small. Gold was not used either (OK, there are 1 or 2 total known gold cwts), although a bright brass or gilt piece could have been a possibility. Two holes in a piece from this era is typically indicative of one of two things - either used as a button or a piece of jewelry (such as a bracelet made of linked together coins). The holes are too far apart for button usage, so my opinion is that this is merely a fantasy piece used to make jewelry.
Ahhh, picture failure I see. Forgot to mention that campaign tokens of that era were typically the size of a quarter or larger, so I would eliminate that liklihood as well.
I had checked my book on pattern coins as well (for the year 1864), nothing like the posted pictures there either.
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