1861-O 50c Liberty Seated Half Dollar Confederate States of America (CSA) WB-104 Speared Olive Bud.
Wiley Bugert Ref.: WB-104. SPEARED OLIVE BUD. (1 TAIL DIE)
This variety has a tail die with two parallel horizontal die defect lines through the upper olive bud. It is paired with 2 head dies, the earliest of which is WB-103. Through die linking, both marriages for this variety were struck by the Confederacy. (Breen Unlisted)
According to Dan Duncan, the 1861 half dollars from the New Orleans Mint have the distinction of being the only issue in U.S. numismatics struck under the authority of three different authorities. At the time, all working dies were prepared in Philadelphia and distributed to the branch mints as no tooling or die preparation equipment was readily available at the branch mints. Dies were prepared and delivered to New Orleans in December 1860.
The resolutions of secession were passed that same month, but Mint operations remained under Union rule through January 1861. The dies issued to the New Orleans Mint were used to strike 330,000 coins that were delivered to the Union successfully. The Confederate States desperately needed gold and silver to fund the war effort. And in February, officials from the Confederacy took over the New Orleans Mint, forcing allegiance from all incumbent employees. In March, the branch struck a reported 1,240,000 more O-mint halves under orders from the State of Louisiana. Soon after, the state relinquished operations to the CSA.
Confederate Secretary of the Treasury C.G. Memminger worked toward creating coinage for the Confederacy. He tapped local die maker A.H.M. Patterson to create a new obverse. The Patterson dies were paired with the Union Liberty Seated obverse and four Proof examples were struck. The project failed to advance further and the CSA produced halves using the dies provided previously by the Union. Under their authority in April, the Mint produced a final 962,633 coins.
Recognizing that efforts to obtain and secure enough bullion to continue production would be too great, Memminger shuttered operations in May 1861. The Mint was eventually recaptured by Union forces in June 1862 and summarily vandalized. It didn’t produce any coinage until 1879 and no O-Mint halves were produced until 1892.
The obverse was designed by Christian Gobrecht based on drawings by Thomas Sully. It features Lady Liberty seated on a rock. Leaning against the rock is an escutcheon of stripes and bars with a ribbon diagonally across bearing the inscription LIBERTY. The shield is supported by Liberty’s right hand and in her other, she holds a Liberty pole topped with a Phrygian cap. The central devices are surrounded by 13 stars with the date below.
The reverse, based on previous coinage designed by German-American engraver John Reich, displays a heraldic eagle at its center with a shield of stripes and bars across the breast. In the talons are arrows and olive branches. Above the bird in the periphery are the words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, and below is the denomination HALF DOL.
