| A spectacular Civil War token with both the token design and the undertype clearly visible. Deep golden brown with splashes of steel toning and lighter ivory. The 117/420 die combination is known in several different compositions, and is quite common in copper. These tokens are also known in bronze, copper-nickel, nickel, white metal, lead, and silver as in this lot. This combination struck over a Bust dime is doubtless extremely rare. The die sinker of this token is not known, however, Dave Bowers speculates it was probably Charles D. Horter, perhaps because he is known to have produced many other token varieties struck over both cents and dimes. The reeded edge on this token was inherited from the original undertype. Attribution of the Bust dime undertype: It is surprisingly simple to attribute the undertype as 1837 JR-4. The obverse of the undertype is clearly visible on the token reverse with the date visible at 4:00. Now, remember that JR-4 has a bisecting die crack on the obverse as seen on the preceding lot, and this is the only use of that die. This same die crack remains visible through the leaves at 3:00. Purchased March 1994 from Jon Harris. Previously from the collection of Virgil Brand. |
