LOOSE CHANGE: JULY 7, 2024

Two members of the legendary Andrews' Raiders, Philip "Perry" Gephart Shadrach and George Davenport Wilson, were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor at a ceremony on July 3rd.

Nineteen (19) of the 22 of the soldiers who were part of Andrews' Raiders were awarded the Medal of Honor between 1863 and 1883. One soldier who was stopped by Confederates near Jasper and never made it to Georgia for the raid was offered the Medal, but he declined.

Now the final 2 soldiers who were a part of the Great Locomotive Chase will be honored at the White House more than 162 years after the raid.

To read the complete article, see:
2 Civil War soldiers awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in & near Chattanooga (https://www.newschannel9.com/features/price-of-freedom/2-civil-war-soldiers-will-be-awarded-the-medal-of-honor-for-actions-in-near-chattanooga-shadrach-wilson-andrews-raiders-great-locomotive-chase)

Contemporary counterfeits are a subset of the hobby, with the focus on fakes made in the period they circulated to pass as genuine in normal commerce. These are avidly collected and cataloged by various collectors and experts, with some worth considerably more than face value.

As I mention in the Buffalo article, my main go-to for information on contemporaries is my friend Winston Zack and his book Bad Metal. He is the one who brought my attention to the authenticated Walker.

Winston refers to this specimen as the Fat Motto family, for rather obvious reasons. And on the reverse, he notes that the pine stem ends under the middle of B in PLURIBUS whereas on the genuine the pine stem ends on the right side of the B.

To read the complete article, see:
From the Dark Corner: An Authenticated Counterfeit 1921 Walking Liberty Half Dollar (https://coinweek.com/from-the-dark-corner-an-authenticated-counterfeit-1921-walking-liberty-half-dollar/)

This Hollywood B-Movie, a remake of the 1942 film A Time to Kill, is largely forgotten outside of numismatic circles today, but is one of the few Hollywood feature films to prominently focus on coin collecting themes. Much of what is discussed in the film regarding the Brasher Doubloon is inaccurate – even the coin itself is a crude prop.

In the film's opening credits, a clumsy reproduction of a Brasher Doubloon with an EB punch at the top of the left wing is shown. None of the seven known Brasher Doubloons feature a punch on the left wing.

Other inaccuracies on the prop coin's obverse are the incomplete motto: UNUM * * * PLURIBUS instead of UNUM * E * PLURIBUS; the number of stars in the glory of the prop coin; and the orientation of the arrows, branches, and the frame around the shield. The overall look of the prop is wrong and it does not appear to be a struck coin.

To read the complete article, see:
The Brasher Doubloon Film From a Numismatist's Perspective (https://coinweek.com/the-brasher-doubloon-film/)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web