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V4 2001 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 4, Number 24, June 10, 2001, Article 2 HUNLEY LUCKY GOLD COIN David Cassel reports: "I, for one, saw the bit on The History Channel, a sad but interesting piece of romantic history." David Gladfelter writes: "Yes, I did see the History Channel segment on the Dixon-Hunley coin. They resisted the temptation to make it sappy, and best of all, they had excellent photos of the coin including a close-up of the engraving. They also had archival illustrations to go with the story." Photos of the famous "lucky coin" recovered from the Confederate submarine Hunley are available on the salvage organization's web site (http://www.hunley.org). Go to "Excavation", then "May 25, 2001". The photos also appeared this week in a cover article by William T. Gibbs in the June 18th issue of COIN World. From the web site: "The long-awaited treasure of the H. L. Hunley, Lt. George Dixon’s gold coin was found inside the submarine. Dr. Robert Neyland, Project Director says, “the coin was found by Dixon’s remains and in the middle of some textiles, possibly he kept it in his pants pocket.” The coin is bent, true to the story that a bullet hit the coin and saved Lt. Dixon’s leg and life. The story goes that his sweetheart, Queenie Bennett gave him a 20-dollar United States gold piece for luck, he kept it with him in his pants pocket. On April 6, 1862, in the Battle of Shiloh, Lt. Dixon was shot in the leg. Luckily when he was shot, the bullet hit the gold piece, in essence saving his life. It was told that Dixon always kept that lucky coin with him and it now appears that he truly did. The coin was minted in 1860 and one side has lady liberty, it was the side the bullet hit. The other side has the Federal shield and eagle symbol. That side appears to be sanded and has an inscription in cursive script that reads in four lines: Shiloh April 6, 1862 My life Preserver G. E. D. (Lt. Dixon’s initials) The coin has been removed from the Warren Lasch Conservation Center and is now in a secured location." http://hunley.org/html/frame.htm

Wayne Homren, Editor

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