Mysterious Countefeit 1861-O Confederate Half Dollar!

I have a similar coin as described by huntsman53. My Grandfather pasted away a few years ago at 98 yrs old and my mother found the coin among his possessions. She did some research and was convinced she had one of the original four strikes. After doing a little research myself, the coin is obviously counterfeit and appears to be made of lead. Huntsman53 did raise a question that I haven’t seen answered yet. Do the common counterfeits of these coins typically have the 17 or 19 buds? Are counterfeits of the original 4 strikes common? Also in the coin I have on the reverse there is an “R” imprinted into the coin on the right side of the shield. Anyone heard of any other counterfeits similar to this?

 

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Frank if you want a quick look at how English Hammerd coinage was made click on the link below and scroll down to a few of my books LOL There is one called England's Striking History :smile

http://www.cointalk.org/showthread.php?t=35936&page=2

 

De Orc,

Thanks! I checked it out but no matter what I did, I could not pry that damn book open to read it!LOL!


Frank

 

Dixon,

From what I have read, most of the older and contemporary Counterfeits as well as the known Restrikes have 19 buds! Now I know of three that have 17 buds and still wonder if the originals have 17 or 19 buds!? I am hoping that someone on C.T. will know the answer to the question! I wonder if the Counterfeiters that made the coins with 17 buds, had access to some of the Trial Strikes or sketches of the proposed Reverse which may have had only 17 buds!

The origin and the very existance of these Counterfeits becomes more and more mysterious with each tidbit of new information offered here on C.T and elswhere. I wonder if we could get Nancy Drew to solve the mystery?!


Frank

 

There seems to be remakes of the coin with 17 instead of 19 buds. The one on iOffer has 17 buds and looks just like the one posted here but neither are one of the 500 restrikes using the original die and 1861 LSD's. To me, the 17 bud versions look like cast remakes instead of die struck copies.

Nonetheless, they're still interesting and their history is still unknown but I'll keep looking to see what I can find out about these interesting bits of history.

Ribbit,
Toad

 

Here are the pics of the one on iOffer:

 

Doug,

I have already seen the pictures on CoinFacts and I was under the impression that the pictures are actually of the Scott Restrike and the Scott Token! I may be wrong but I see nothing on CoinFacts that states otherwise!


Frank

 

Doug,

I was thinking about this very thing last night and this morning! Yes, Scott obtained and used the original Confederate Half Dollar Reverse Die. However, did Scott modify the Die after he obtained it to make his' Restrikes distinguishable from the Originals. I have a feeling, theory or that old itch that tells you that he probably did modify the Die! In fact, if you count the buds on the upper side of the stalk there are only 7, while on the lower side there are 11 with the odd man out on the end of the main stem. Why 7 on one side and 11 on the other? I believe that it is quite possible that Scott may have added 2 buds to the lower side of the stem to make his' Restrikes distinguishable from the Originals. Maybe someone has access to pictures of an actual original that they can post here but until then, I will still wonder if the originals had 17 or 19 buds!


Frank

 

Here's one I found in Italy. It's just like the one on iOffer and the other one I posted earlier. However, all three cannot possibly be Scott restrikes because they are not Seated Liberty Silver Dollars with the reverse filed down then restruck with the reverse die of the Confederate Half-Dollar. I believe they are nothing more than cast reproductions based on this famous coin but I have no clue who did them.

Ribbit

 

Ribbit;
Nice copy, interesting fake.

 

Am I wrong or are there 18 buds on the one I found in Italy?

Ribbit

 

Found this site and thread when searching about a coin my uncle found.

It looks as if it was two thin pieces soldered together... I am guessing its a fake.

Sorry for the image quality but its off my new cell phone.

First Image
First Image
First Image
First Image

 

No pics.

 

i actually just started learning about confederate money. now someone will be able to help you better, knowing if its fake or not, but..

i would have to guess fake, because of how rare these are.

from what i have researched, there were only 500 of this coin with this specific reverse struck. so chances are not very high, that a coin like this would be sitting around and not slabbed.but stranger things have happened!

never mind something does not seem right. it should have the seated liberty obverse?

 

ZuraX

This is a very crude cast copy of a fantasy coin, not even of a real 1861 Confed Half dollar, the year 1861 does not appear below the bee hive, the words "Half Dollar" are on the real coins.