In 1861, an official of the Confederate
States of America contacted Bailey & Co. of Philadelphia
concerning supplying one cent pieces for the Confederacy. Bailey
& Co. commissioned Robert Lovett, a well known medalist and
token maker from the same city who had previously designed a cent
sized token featuring the profile of "Miss Liberty," as the person
to design the new CSA coin and make the dies. Lovett adopted his
"Miss Liberty" head for the obverse of a cent, with CONFEDERATE
STATES OF AMERICA surrounding the profile and the date below. The
reverse design was in the form of a wreath with a bale of cotton
below on which was the initial of the engraver, L. Within the
wreath was "1 CENT." Lovett struck 12 pattern pieces in
copper-nickel, the alloy being used at the time to make United
States Indian Head cents. Fearing treason charges from Union
authorities for aiding the Confederacy, he cancelled the project
and hid the 12 coins until after the War when he carried around one
of the coins as a pocket piece. In 1873, Lovett, who was now an
alcoholic, spent the Confederate cent by mistake in a Philadelphia
bar. The bartender recognized the piece as being unusual, and
showed it to a few individuals who who eventually made contact with
John Haseltine. Haseltine bought the coin and contacted Robert
Lovett to buy any remaining coins. Lovett denied any knowledge of
the coin until one evening when he was “drunk and goaded beyond
endurance, confessed all….” At this point, Lovett unearthed the
remaining coins and dies and sold the entire lot to Haseltine.
Haseltine took the dies to Peter Kinder of Philadelphia to make
restrikes of the Confederate cent. After seven gold, twelve silver,
and 54 copper restrikes had been made, the dies broke on the 55th
copper strike. No copper-nickel alloy restrikes were made to
preserve the integrity of the original dozen coined by Lovett. For
years the dies were thought to have been destroyed but in 1961 they
surfaced in the hands of Robert Bashlow, a New York City coin
dealer. The obverse die had been defaced by hammer blows and the
reverse by chisel cuts. Bashlow had August C. Frank & Co. of
Philadelphia make transfer dies and strike 30,156 copies in a
variety of metals in time for the Civil War centennial. Known as
the Bashlow "second restrikes," they are the final run of
Confederate cents. Following his 1961 production strikes, Bashlow
donated both dies to the Smithsonian Institute where they currently
reside.
The following is a list of the Confederate Cent varieties and the
quantity of coins minted:
-The original Lovett cents made in 1861:
-Copper - 12
Haseltine's "1st restrikes" made in 1874:
-Copper - 55
-Gold - 7
-Silver - 12
