NEW BOOK: COUNTERSTAMPED STONE MOUNTAIN HALVES

PREV ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE FULL ISSUE PREV FULL ISSUE

V22 2019 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 22, Number 26, June 30, 2019, Article 6

Charles Rogers has announced his book on the counterstamped Stone Mountain half dollars; it will be published and available for sale in the next several weeks. Congratulations! -Editor

About the Book

Mystery of the Counterstamped Stone Mountain Half Dollar book cover

The time has come that the Stone Mountain Numismatist has long awaited. A 1,600+- page book is now available that helps unlock the mystery of the "Counterstamped" Stone Mountain Coin's marketing uses--deciphering their incused die stamp codes, estimating the potential " Counterstamped Coin" population, estimating the actual number of coins die stamped and gives some idea of the total that exist today.

There were four Campaigns to sell the regular issued Stone Mountain Coins with the help of six major categories of "Counterstamped Coins" as marketing tools containing several varieties and different types of these rare incused coins. The book contains numerous "Counterstamped" Coin images and their deciphered uses from all four Coin Campaigns. There are new and exciting discoveries hidden for just short of a 100 years! Discover what these coins were all about while learning a short history of the regular issue Stone Mountain Coin, the giant granite Mountain Monument and the people that tried to make it happen.

About the Coin
The Stone Mountain Memorial Half Dollar is a Commemorative Coin made by the U.S. Mint as legal tender in 1925 and is of the standard weight and fineness of their regular issued silver counterparts. There were four coin Campaigns or Movements from June 3,1925 to March 31,1928 to market the 2,313,484 Stone Mountain Memorial Half Dollar coins received from the U.S. Mint by the Stone Mountain Confederate Monumental Association (SMCMA) or its agent the Federal Reserve Banking system in the first few months of 1925 and distributed to about 4,000 community banks before their national release date of July 3, 1925.

There were several methods used to raise funds to emblazon into Stone Mountain a giant Memorial granite carving to "honor the valor of the soldier of the south" of the Civil War. Selling the Stone Mountain Coin to the public is the most well-known fundraising method. The "Counterstamped" Stone Mountain Memorial Coin is a marketing tool used in several ways to help sell the regular issued Stone Mountain Memorial Half Dollar. The "Counterstamped" Stone Mountain Coin is a regular issued Stone Mountain Half Dollar punched with a metal die at specific and various locations on the reverse at a 1925 cost of $.03 to $.04 cents per coin to have initials and/or numbers stamped on it as well as the State abbreviation the coin represents. These die stamps were not punched at or by the U.S. Mint but were incused by others at the request of the SMCMA or its representatives.

Five of the six major Categories of the 1925 "Counterstamped" Stone Mountain Half Dollar Coins are incused and all six were used to market the regular issued non-counterstamped Commemorative Half Dollar. The net proceeds from the regular issued Stone Mountain Half Dollar purchase price of $1 from the SMCMA were used to help emblazon Stone Mountain with the giant Memorial granite carving. In the end it is believed there was not a community in the Southern States so remotely located as not to be aware of the regular issued Stone Mountain Coin or the "Monument to the Valor of the Soldier of the South" because of the publicity produced by the "Counterstamped" Coin.

About one of the Counterstamped Coin Categories of the Book

Image Courtesy of Bill Hatchett, A-Coin & Stamp Gallery, Inc., Jacksonville, FL.

This is one of six Categories of Counterstamped Coins. It is commonly called a "Contest Coin" or a "Lavalier" also spelled Lavaliere or Lavalliere. It was awarded to young ladies married or not between the ages of fifteen and twenty five that sold the most coins according to the contest rules generally in a County but this varied. There were 1,200 (600 G.L and 600 S.L.) awarded in the Harvest Campaign, the Second Coin Movement. There are two Varieties, a Gold Lavalier for First Place and a Silver Lavalier for Second Place generally awarded as a County prize but not always as to make the contest as fair as possible.

The winning two ladies from each participating County/Parish/District and D.C Society went on to compete at the State (14) or D.C. level where the winning two Ladies from each entity (30 total) competed at the All-Southern Confederate Costume Ball in Atlanta, Georgia for the grand prize of a marble bust of themselves to be carved by the sculptor of Stone Mountain. The winner would also represent the South as the typical Southern Bell or Lady. The free all-expense paid trip to Atlanta and the Ball were also a reward to the Ladies for their work.

There are 15 Types of each Variety of Contest or Lavalier Coin or one for every Southern State (14) and the District of Columbia (D.C.).

The Lavalier below is FLA. No. 20 that represents the Gold Lavalier Winner of the Unit or Town of Fernandina and the County of Nassau in the State of Florida (FLA.). The Lady recipient is unknown. The State Serial Numbered Contest Coin or Lavalier is assigned the random number of the County/District/Society or Unit of their individual State's/D.C.'s Serial Numbered Auction Coin's randomly drawn. The State Serial Numbered Auction Coins are usually randomly drawn numbered coins from a receptacle by an uninterested third party and matched to the Accountants Alphabetical List of banking towns/cities called Units for most States or in the case of South Carolina and I surmise Tennessee for their Counties. In Missouri Districts were surmised used and Southern Societies were utilized in the District of Columbia. (D.C.)

About the Author
Charles Rogers is a graduate of Georgia Institute of Technology better known as Georgia Tech after which he served as an officer in the U.S.Army during the Vietnam War Era. He attended Graduate School of Business at the University of North Florida while beginning his engineering career. His engineering experience leads him to becoming a Real Estate Appraiser in Jacksonville, Florida and throughout the South as he earned the highest designations (MAI, SRPA, SRA) of that profession. He was President and owner of one of the most highly respected appraisal firms in Florida of commercial properties and an expert witness in litigation. His appraisal experience of simple and complex properties spans 40 years. He has been on the Board of Directors of Proclaim! International for 19 years. The ministry is a community of missionaries called to proclaim the gospel with creativity, humility and boldness, in obedience to the authority of Jesus Christ.

After retirement he capitalized on his love of numismatics setting out to write an article for a coin magazine that has turned into a book. He resides in Saint Johns, Florida with Martha, his wife of 53 years.

Book details:
Hardcover
8.5" x 11"
case wrap
Color
ISBN 978-0-692-19153-8
1,600+- pages
Price $125 plus tax and shipping