Back in the 1950s they did a full "restoration" of the USS Constellation. Rather then just dispose of metal parts replaced, they were melted down and turned into plaques and souvenir coins that were then sold to pay for the restoration. I was very happy to waste $20 on this lil piece of exunumia... Now here's a coin/medal with some real history behind it Side note: hehe funny lil bit I found out is that these coins were not made from metal of the original Constellation but from the second ship of that name built in 1854 (making it the LAST US Navy sailing frigate built) There is however arguement that many parts of the previous constellation (ships bell and other metal fittings) were used for her construction so it may or may not contain any metal from the original but does contain metal from the 1854 version lol (still a damn neat coin lol) Yeah she came up as part of my hunt for a Cartwheel and I couldn't resist lol
Thousands of special copper medals, newly-minted from parts of the United States Frigate "Constellation", now berthed in Baltimore, will provide lifetime free admission to the Navy's oldest vessel for the fortunate owners. https://en.numista.com/catalogue/exonumia25160.html
