The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 47, November 5, 2005, Article 11

CIVIL WAR SIEGE COIN OFFERED

The November 25-26, 2005 sale by Craig A. Whitford Numismatic
Auctions features a “rare & elusive New Orleans Siege Dime.”
Lot 1628 is an 1860 Indian Head Cent counterstamped “J. B.
SCHILLER on the obverse, and “X” on the reverse.  “This coin carries
the stigma of being the only documented Confederate Civil War siege
issues as the piece was countermarked while New Orleans was
surrounded and eventually fell to Admiral Farragut's forces on May 1
of 1862….. It is widely speculated that the valuation of the countermarked
coin in circulation was ten cents…. The Schiller counterstamp was first
reported in TAMS Journal for March 1963 by Robert Lindesmith in a letter
to editor Russ Rulau.  It was written up by Rulau in Coin World in 1963 also."

"I would think that “distinction” would be a more apt term than “stigma."
It's certainly an interesting story, and I'd be curious to read the writeups
on it to see the basis for calling it a siege piece.   Another example of
the counterstamp appeared in Rich Hartzog's World Exonumia 2005 Mail
Bid Sale of the Brunk counterstamp collection, where the catalog entry
reads:

"J. B. Schiller was an importer of alcohol and proprietor of the Sazerac
Coffee House at 13 Exchange Place. During the Union siege of New
Orleans he issued paper notes for 25 and 50 cents. He also made dime
SIEGE TOKENS by stamping 1860 US small cents with his name and
a large "X" over 'One" so the reverse becomes 'X Cent' indicating ten cents.
This siege piece has been called 'one of the most important American tokens',
and an examination of published photographs indicates the Brunk specimen
may be the finest known."

Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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