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#1 Re: Vibrant Coin Market Looks Probable for Years To Come!
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By VDB Coins on 09 Sep, 2017 06:21 in board : US Coins, tokens and medals
Anybody alive here? It looks like even the crickets are dying. Back to the overall coin market, the Pogue Collection sales through Stack's Bowers were certainly a shot in the arm for the coin market, and it does not seem to have sucked for too long a great deal of disposable money out of the market. The recent news is that a new billionaire collector has been spending money hand over first, millions of dollars in the last few months alone, attempting to even better the complete (virtually, those known to him at the time) collection of the great Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. The new collections are stunning and visible at the PCGS Set Registry website.We have resigned (as of July 2017) after 12 years as longtime writer-editor-researchers for Heritage Auctions and gone back to just being full-time coin dealers. It was great but tiring, and I learned an incredible amount about top-end coins while I was there. Happy collecting to all!Kind regards,George
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#10 Political Tokens 1860 Wide Awakes and The Douglas Invincible's
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By coinsarefun on 14 Dec, 2015 09:37 in board : US Coins, tokens and medals
The Wide Awakes were a political club that emerged across the North, during the election of 1860. They were organized in support of the campaign of Abraham Lincoln.Appealing mainly to those in their teens, twenties, and thirties, the Wide Awakes took on an organized military form. They wore uniforms and had ranks and duties. These young men were motivated by the contentious sectional politics of the 1850s. Their organization and militaristic nature alarmed the South and helps to explain the fierce opposition to Lincoln’s election. The group began in Connecticut and probably numbered around 100,000 nationwide. This number would be around 1 million in terms of the current-day population. Its organization spread across new communication channels, and in May of 1860 the marching of the Chicago Wide Awakes at the Republican National Convention introduced the organization to the nation. Lincoln Campaign Token Below The standard Wide Awake uniform consisted of a full robe or cape, a black glazed hat, and a torch six feet in length to which a large, flaming, pivoting whale-oil container was mounted. Its activities were conducted primarily in the evening and consisted of several night-time torch-lit marches through cities in the northeast and border states. The Wide Awakes adopted the image of a large eyeball as their standard banner.Campaign torch Image below really gives you a feel for what they wore. Article taken from the NY timesPublished: November 3, 1860FACEBOOKTWITTERGOOGLE+EMAILSHAREPRINTREPRINTS Special Dispatch to the New-York Times.BALTIMORE, Friday, Nov. 2.1860The Breckinridge Democratic procession tonight was large and enthusiastic. It contained about four thousand torch men uniformed, and five hundred mounted men hav- ing banners, transparencies and music. They marched through the principal streets, which were partially illuminated. The procession contained a large number of boys. The uniforms and torches were all furnished gratuitously, it is supposed, by "Uncle Sam."The procession is supposed to have been two miles long. There was much enthusiasm. The spectators were not so numerous as on last night, the weather being unfavorable. A singular feature was the procession heartily cheering the Bell-Everett Head-quarters as it passed, and receiving hearty responses. The whole affair passed off creditably, and the appearance of the procession was much admired.The Douglasites also had a procession, numbering a thousand Douglas invincibles and others. They are also holding a Douglas mass meeting in Monument-square, which is attended by about four thousand. There is speaking and great enthusiasm.There is intense excitement throughout the City. The Unionists are also holding large meetings. A medal from a set of Three (I think) Were Douglas has a very curious pose of his head.It reminds me of the many Lincoln portraits of the time......plus he looks like a young Beethoven Stephen Douglas Political Token Large silver dollar-sized 1860-2 campaign medal, rarely-seen copper.
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