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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;illini420, post: 1548095, member: 19423&quot;]141 years ago today was the start of The Great Chicago Fire which burnt a large portion of the city to the ground October 8-10, 1871.&nbsp; I grew up in the Chicago area so I learned a great deal of the history how this great fire, although quite tragic and a major disaster, was one of the reasons for Chicago&#039;s greatness in the years after the fire.&nbsp; Chicago really did rise like a phoenix from the flames.</p><p><br /></p><p>Following the fire, the bell from the Chicago Courthouse which had burnt down was melted and turned into various relics which were sold off as souveniers.&nbsp; I have seen miniature bells that were produced as well as medals which were struck by the U.S. Mint.&nbsp; 500 medals, designed by William Barber, were struck the following year in 1872 by the Mint with metal from that Courthouse bell.&nbsp; The medal is approximately 51mm in diameter and is listed as CM-13 in the Julian reference.&nbsp;&nbsp; I&#039;ve wanted to acquire one of those pieces for sometime and recently I picked one up.&nbsp; It&#039;s a beautiful design, though this example does have a few scratches on the side with the phoenix.&nbsp; I went for this one in particular because it has a box (original?) with it that I thought added to the coolness of it a bit.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm111/illini420/CM13o.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm111/illini420/CM13r.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm111/illini420/CM13box.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s a pic of the Courthouse Bell after the fire from the Chicago Historical Society website:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://greatchicagofire.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/item-node-poster-920wide/i64280_poster.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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