"The General" - an 'error' silver bullion art bar I purchased this bar way back in 1972 for the princely sum of around $3.00. Shortly after I bought it, there was quite the buzz about this bar. It seemed whoever designed and engraved the die for The Madison Mint, chose the incorrect locomotive to be engraved into the die. Any train aficionado worth their salt knows that ‘The General’ steam locomotive of the civil war ‘great locomotive chase’ fame is NOT a 4-2-4 steam engine as depicted in this ‘error’ bar, but is rather a Western & Atlantic Railroad 4-4-0 steam locomotive built in December 1855 by the Rogers, Ketchum & Grosvenor in Paterson, New Jersey, as depicted in the second bar below. @johnmilton recently mentioned in a CT Silver Bullion thread that back in the early 1970’s, bullion art bar makers would ‘intentionally’ release ‘error’ bars hoping to stimulate interest and demand. I wonder if this Madison Mint bar was one of those ‘intentional’ errors? Does anyone else have any examples of reportedly 'error' silver or copper art bars / bullion strikes? Post them up if you do. @dwhiz ? Z
