After seeing your signature a few times, I just now decided to look up this Bashlow restrike. I'm a fan of restrikes (in the strict sense that they were actually struck from original dies and/or by the original minting authority, as is the case with the ubiquitous Maria Theresa thaler restrikes) and novodels (even though a lot of these are basically government fantasy pieces) in general, as I think they have a fascinating history all their own. So, I'm curious: what do you think is a fair price for the basic copper (with a mintage of 20,000 I think?) Bashlow restrike? It looks like you own one of the silver ones, but I have a feeling you have at least one example of the copper/bronze restrikes as well, and thus might be able to shed some light on this. Thanks in advance!
Well I will try to tell you what I know about this coin. For a good reference on the Confederate Cent, I suggest reading "The Lovett Cent a Confederate Story" by Harold Levi and George Corell. This very well researched work covers this coin in all its incarnations. It is an interesting story, full of history and if you are interested in the CSA cent or its relations, well worth having in your library. In the strictest interpertation of the word, the Bashlow 'restrike' is not *actually* a restrike since it was struck from transfer dies made from the original Lovett dies, which had a broken piece and were unable to be reused (and indeed should be preserved). But, all the detail of the original coin is present, including the rather brutal chisel marks on the reverse and the rust pitting on the obverse, a product of the Haseltine enterprise and time. Bashlow was an amazing fellow, he died young rather tragically, but was a real factor in the coin world even today. He never intended to deceive with his restrike of the csa cent, indeed he struck these in double thickness and in coin alignment, instead of medal alignment of the original. He also struck none in coppernickel, to avoid any confusion with the extremely rare originals (between 12 and 16 stuck). Mintage figures for the Bashlow csa restrikes is accepted at 20000 for copper, 5000 for silver and 5000 for Goldine, a brasslike alloy. Numerous others were struck in tin, fiber, gold (unknown if more than one survive) and platinum (most thought melt, though one or two may survive). Bashlow marketed many of these tokens in a plastic holder, which like the slabs to come in two decades, preserved them in nice MS. NGC today will authenticate, grade and slab all Bashlow CSA cents, though PCGS will not. This as I understand it is because it is NOT included in Redbook, since it was not struck with the original (broken and fragile) original dies. In the sense that it is now nearly 50 years old, minted by a well known enterprise in recognized numbers and the ONLY affordable Confederate coin, there are several who feel it should be recognized and included in Redbook. When that occurs, PCGS should slab this coin. The precedent for this is that the New Haven restrikes of the Fugio Cent were also struck from recreated dies....and that is in Redbook and accepted by PCGS. Currently, prices on ebay for single copper Bashlow restrikes average between 35 to 50 dollars. Those in the original plastic holder bring more money. Both the Silver and Goldine tokens average around $125 or so. Sometimes 3 coin sets in the original holder are available, in fact Heritage auction has one now (though it may be sold now), bid was $325 when I looked last. Bashlow also had die trial pieces stuck on a variety of metals, and uniface impressions done from the hub on silver plate. These sell very infrequently, though in the same auction as the 3 piece set, a uniface set was selling, up over $800 when I last looked. Robet Lovett Jr. was from a family of die makers, and done several store cards and tokens at the same general time as he done the Confederate Cent. These use the same basic figure, though lettering obverse and reverse is changed. They include the 1860 Lovett store card PA 353, the Biern Hotel token PA750E-1a, The William Idler store card PA750La-1d, The Allenbach store card PA750B-1d and last but certainly not least, the Marshall House store card, VA103. This token circulated in Richmond Virgina prior to the Civil War, and it is though it was the inspiration for the creation of the Confederate Cent. Lovett kept the CSA cent project a big secret. In his eyes, he was guilty of treason, and subject to great legal trouble if he was discovered. The accepted story is that one day in 1873 he spent one of the original CSA cents in a tavern...which in turn was shown to a coin collector who identified it as Lovetts work. Haseltine pressured Lovett nonstop to buy the dies, and finally in 1874 he began a restrike run, intending to do 500 pieces, to match the restrikes of the confederate half. However, after only 55 copper, 12 silver and 7 gold were stuck, a large portion of the reverse die broke off, ending the restrikes. And so on and so on, the Book mentioned above will fill in all the details and is a great read. Today the CSA cent has been copied, mocked, enlarged, cheapened, and sold to tourists by the handfuls. None have any value, though they do create interest in HOW the coin came to be. I suspect interest in ALL CSA coins and restrikes will peak again shortly, with the 150th annv. of the Civil War occuring. Hope this helps fill in some of the details!
Thanks for the very interesting information ambro. I knew nothing about these and have learned a great deal today!
Amazing! Thanks for the very detailed response! I will certainly be on the lookout for one of the bronze Bashlow cents in addition to that book...it may be a while before I find one, though - but I guess that's the thrill of the hunt. I have a feeling the large majority of 'restrikes' are made from transfer dies, which IMO is about as close as you can get sometimes. Dies obviously don't last forever, and cracks and breaks are bound to happen. I can't imagine that the Austrian mint has been using the same Maria Theresa thaler dies for the past 200 years...unless that die is made of solid diamond.
If one watches, the 3 piece sets can be had for under $100. I paid $85 for mine a couple of years ago (ebay), and I saw a set on ebay last year go for around $65. I will second Ambro's sentiment that the Lovett book would be an excellent one to have for those who find this topic interesting.
As I pointed out in a PM to you (maybe it didn't srrive) the restrike is NOT the only affordable Confederate coin. While it is stuck from transfer dies from the original dies it is not a true Confederate coin. However the six identified die varieties of the 1861-O half dollar that WERE struck by the Confederacy are, and they are still affordable.
Yes Condor you are 110% correct. The only difficulty is that you need to fully explain those little diagnostics to both the curious and yourself. Now if the CSA had just done *something* to that 61 0 half to set it apart, maybe counterstamping the coin.....the value would be many times what it is today. Personally, they dont thrill me. The Scott restrike of the CSA half is still moderatly priced, but then again, it is a restrike. If you want PURE CSA coinage....you need to break into a museum and swipe one of the four original halves. If you want an original CSA cent, youre gonna need about 150K, unless you get lucky and find the one or possibly two that remain unaccounted for. Lovett lost one, he lived in Philadelphia, and there is good reason to suspect it may lay 2 inches under the surface of the ground somewhere :smile And even that coin was not struck in the South. Bashlows are a fun coin. I wearing one out now in my pocket, along with an ASE, just to see how they look worn and toned.
