AARON WHITE SATIRICAL DOLLAR, EARLY CIVIL WAR PERIOD. Lots of nice reddish color in the fields. Struck early during the Civil War warning that paper money could become worthless. Sow hanging from a hook on obverse, Sow rooting in a jar on the reverse. Struck in Copper. The dies are not signed.
ONLY (4) MS 65'S AND (1) MS 66 FINER OF ONLY (37) OF THIS TYPE LISTED IN THE NGC CENSUS AS OF 3/2024.
ANOTHER NGC GRADED MS 64 EXAMPLE SOLD FOR $1,145.00 BY HERITAGE AUCTIONS IN 2016.
JEFF SHEVLIN SOLD AN NGC GRADED MS 63 BN EXAMPLE ON HIS WEBSITE FOR $950.00
JEFF SHEVLIN HAD AN UNGRADED "PROOF GEM" EXAMPLE IN ONE OF HIS PRICE LISTS FOR $1,375.00.
Aaron White, eccentric Connecticut lawyer, believed that the financial strain of the War of the Rebellion would bankrupt the United States and that as a result, all paper money, "green-backs" in particular, would become worthless. He hoarded hard money as insurance against such catastrophe.
When the hoard was examined several years after White's death, it was found to contain 350 gold and 100 silver dollars, 200 silver half dollars, 5,000 2-cent pieces, 60,000 large and 60,000 nickel cents, 250 Colonials, and more than 20,000 foreign coins.
White struck his satirical pieces to show contempt for green-backs, printed to finance the war. Specie or hard money was so scarce when the war commenced that the government had to print money to meet its needs. White remembered the sus-pension of specie payments by U.S. banks and the resultant hard times of 1837 and 1857. Also in his memory was the issue by wildcat banks and private concerns of an avalanche of paper money, value of which fluctuated greatly, and much of which was worthless. He wished to refresh the memories of the people to the curses of paper money.
MY NGC REGISTRY SET "BRUCE THOMAS COLLECTION OF SO-CALLED DOLLARS AND OTHER MEDALS" WAS VOTED AS THE BEST CUSTOM SET FOR 2018 BY THE NGC REGISTRY AWARDS. I AM VERY PROUD OF THIS ACCOMPLISHMENT, AND THANKS TO NGC FOR THIS HONOR.
I WILL BE LISTING MANY MORE EXONUMIA ITEMS IN THE FUTURE, INCLUDING MANY SO-CALLED DOLLARS, DEWITT LISTED POLITICAL CAMPAIGN MEDALS, AND OTHER UNITED STATES HISTORIC MEDALS. THANK YOU FOR CONSIDERING MY LISTINGS TO ADD TO YOUR COLLECTION.