WWW.COINSMAGAZINE.NET 21
That belongingtoprivatedepositorswas
scrupulouslypaidouttotheownersbut
property oftheUnitedStatesgovernment
now belongedtotheState.
From Jan. 26 throughtheendofMarch
the State ofLouisianaoperatedtheMint
for its own benefit and coined 9,750
double eaglesand1,240,000halfdollars.
The Confederate government officially
assumed controlat thebeginningofApril
and struck afurther2,991doubleeagles
and 962,633halfdollars.Thesilvercoins
under bothentities were used tofurther
Confederate financial needs while the
gold was paidouttothe depositors.The
Mint was closed onMay31,1861,and
the remaining bullion shipped to the
Confederatecapitalat Richmond.
Prior totheclosingoftheMintthere
were suggestions made that a special
half dollar coinage be made with
a new reverse die. With the approval
of Confederate Treasury Secretary
ChristopherMemminger,Superintendent
William Elmorearrangedfordesignsto
be executedanda dieengravedbya New
Orleans artisan.The engraver,however,
knew little ofthetechnologyneededand
prepared a dieinhighrelief,unsuitedto
mass coinage.
Four pieces were struck of the pattern
Confederate half dollar in a screw press,
which permitted the multiple blows needed
to bring up the design on both sides, the
obverse being the standard United States
Seated Liberty motif. The coiner kept one
of the pieces; two went to prominent local
residents, while the remaining piece was
sent to Richmond as a gift to Confederate
President Jefferson Davis.
These Confederate half dollars have
always brought forth great interest
among collectors. The sale of the John
Ford holdings (Part 1, October 2003) by
Stack’s had one of these coins, believed
to be the piece once owned by Jefferson
Davis and stolen from him when he was
captured by Union forces in May 1865.
The Ford specimen realized $632,500,
welltestifyingtoitsdesirability.
The pattern Confederate half-dollar
was,inmanyways,theswansongofthis
mintastheCivilWargainedmomentum.
In the spring of 1862 Federal forces
capturedthecityandit wasplacedunder
the command of General Benjamin
Butler.Oneofhisfirstactswastohang
a Confederatesympathizerwhohadtorn
down the U.S. flag near the Mint. His
sternmeasuresquieteddowna rebellious
cityandresidentsweresoonabletowalk
safelyonitsstreets.
ButlerplacedtheMintundercontrolofspecialTreasuryagents,whodidlittle
except to inventory the contents and
re-sealthevaults.Therewasofcourseno
bulliontobefound,butConfederateoffi-
cialshadhonorablydefacedtheworking
dies, keeping counterfeiters at bay had
theybeenstolen.
From 1862 to 1873 therule ofU.S.
papermoneywassupremeintheNorth
and,afterthewar,theSouthaswell.In
thelatteryearthegovernment beganto
putsilvercoinsbackintodailyuse;thisThelastcoinageinNewOrleanscamein1909.
Images Courtesy of Stack’s Bowers
meant increased coinage and a need for
more presses. To this end Mint Director
Henry R. Linderman tried to get the New
Orleans Mint re-opened but this did not
come about until early in 1879.
It had been Dr. Linderman’s original
plan to have New Orleans coin minor
silver but an abundance of this in the
late 1870s and the creation of the famous
Morgan dollar in 1878 meant that the
emphasis changed. Some gold was struck
beginning in 1879, including a small
number of double eagles in that year
only, but primarily New Orleans was
involved in the heavy coinages of silver
dollars that continued until 1904.
Beginning in 1891 New Orleans once
more struck minor silver coins but also
continued with silver dollars and some-
what erratic gold coinages. By the early
1900s, however, the handwriting was on
the wall and the Mint Bureau decided that
the new mint at Denver, which had opened
in 1906, could easily handle at lower cost
any coinage demands once met by New
Orleans. On April 1, 1909, coinage was
suspended, never to be resumed.The 1861 Confederate Half Dollar.
Images Courtesy of Stack’s Bowers
TheNewOrleansMintbeganstrikingMorgandollarswhenit
reopened in 1879.Images Courtesy of Stack’s Bowers