Monitor tokens have become very popular. Despite the fact that most of them are fairly common, demand as driven up prices to surprising levels, at least to me. Here are the obverse varieties of the pieces that are listed in Fuld book plus an Civil War era medalet that was issued during the period. Rumors of the Confederate ironclad, The Virginia, sent shivers up and down the spines of Washington residents. The ship was rumored to impregnable. People were concerned that the Confederacy would sail the monster up the Potomac River and bomb Washington. The truth was the The Virginia was topheavy, hardly seaworthy and underpowered. Fortunately for the Union, they were working on an ironclad ship of their own. The Monitor was more technologically advanced than The Virginia, but it was far from perfect. The ships met at Hampton Roads, Virginia on March 9, 1862. The day before The Virginia had sunk a Union wooden ship which confirmed that fact that it was a formidable foe under the right circumstances. The fought to a draw, which was actually a win for the Union. The Virginia was bottled up in a small tributary and would not be a factor in the war. Later the Confederacy blew it up to prevent the Union from capturing it. The victory of The Monitor caused some on the Union side to get "Monitor fever." The ship was the darling for many, and token makers celebrated by producing several views of the ship. The following is a collection of the obverse Monitor designs. The dies were paired with other reverses, and the tokens were struck in metals other than copper or brass. Fuld 237/423a. This piece and the following were made by the Scoville Manufacturing Company. This is a common R-1 token. Fuld 239/422a. This piece was also made by Scoville. It is an R-2, fairly common. The most obvious difference between the two is the pennant on the stern of the ship, which is thin and straight. Indiana token maker, Henry Higgins, made a copy of die #237 and made a series of tokens with it. Higgins creations are known to Civil War token collectors as the "Indiana Primitives." All Indiana Primitives are scarce to rare. This one is an R-7, 11 to 20 known. There might be more than that, but not a lot more. New York City die maker, Charles Horter, made additional Monitor tokens in 1863 and '64. Fuld 240/337a, R-1 Fuld 241/336a, also an R-1 This piece has a small Monitor behind the sword wielding soldier. The variety is 257/311b. This brass token is a little scarcer. It's an R-3. This last piece is not listed as a Civil War token. It is a medalet that was issued after the battle. Most of the pieces I have seen were Mint State. It's priced as several hundred dollars. The is a Virginia token. This piece was made from metal salvaged from the wreck of the ship circa 1905. It was one listed as a Civil War token, but has been de-listed because it was not made during the 1861-4 era. I will post a picture from a book, and then my piece which is in bad shape. These pieces are very prone to rust. In a recent auction, a piece that was certified was still rusting in the holder. The auctioneer pointed this out and reduced the bids, but someone still paid around $2,000 for it. Nice ones have sold for over $3,000.
john, I always come away with satisfaction & a sense of fulfillment with your posts. The backstories & specimens you show are exquisite and leave me with a sense of desire. Thank you for your constant quality & accuracy!
Very nice writeup and beautiful examples. I don't have one of the iron ones, but I can always go look at a piece of the propeller shaft of the CSS VIrginia downtown by the "Confederate White House."
Nice article. I look at these occasionally and have noticed the prices seem to go ever higher ...wish I'd bought one years ago.
Currently there are two of these medals on the bay listed... moon money too. Many times over the price paid for mine as well price realized when sold. I didn't loose on mine at all...was made an offer many times over the price I paid. But will admit this is one that I wished never left the collection.
