Lot 1085
1864. Copper-nickel. PCGS graded Proof 64. CAC Approved. Deep mirrored fields and highly frosted devices. This is an outstanding example of the issue with very few of the flaws one would associate with the grade. There is a slight haze on the reverse which is indicative of it's originality. The coin looks like it was just taken out of an original Proof set. Housed in an Old Green Holder. Only 370 struck. Pop 80; 54 finer, 2 in 64+, 43 in 65, 7 in 66, 2 in 67. (PCGS # 2265)
According to Neil Carothers in his book Fractional Money (1930), the number of copper-nickel Cents in the country at the outbreak of the civil war in 1861 was not far from 100,000,000. These coins had been forced into circulation by exchange for Spanish silver coins as well as by sales for gold and silver coins of the United States, until they flooded the channels of retail trade, became a public nuisance, and sold at a discount -- an actual discount to face value! -- in the cities.
These copper-nickel coins, worth as bullion about half as much as their money value, did not disappear when the silver coins vanished in July 1862. They continued to circulate and for a short while, before the vast outpouring of shinplasters (unbacked paper money), they constituted the only small change in the Northern states. The coins were tied up into bundles of 25, 50, or 100 pieces and used widely in retail trade. Bus companies, theaters, and restaurants accepted these rolls everywhere. It is reported a retail store in New York received so many that the floor of the room in which they were stored collapsed! Estimated Value $800 - 1,000
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| Realized $1,725 |
