1861-O 50C Liberty Seated Half Dollar, W-07 Louisiana Issue NGC SE Ex.SS Republic w/box & COA

The 1861-O half dollar was one of only two coins struck by three governments in the same year: the Union, State of Louisiana, and the Confederacy.

Here’s a fascinating relic from the tragic wreck of the S.S. Republic with a Civil War pedigree: an 1861-O Liberty Seated half dollar. It is graded by NGC as Shipwreck Effect (B) AU, Louisiana Issue. According to NGC, Shipwreck Effect B is:

a coin showing evidence of light surface disturbance from immersion in saltwater, and may have some areas of moderate disturbance, not affecting central design elements. Coin possesses above-average eye appeal for shipwreck recovery coin.

The year 1861 saw the beginning of the Civil War. It was on January 26^th of that year that the State of Louisiana broke away from the Union; the state seized the New Orleans mint six days later. Archival records show that 330,000 halves were struck for the Union at the New Orleans Mint before the secession of Louisiana.

However, after January 26^th, the State of Louisiana struck an additional 1,240,000 half dollars.

Then on February 4^th, the State of Louisiana joined the Confederate States of America (CSA) and transferred the property of the New Orleans mint to the Confederate government based in Montgomery Alabama (that government was later relocated to Richmond, Virginia). There are records of 962,633 coins being produced under the authority of the Confederacy commencing in April of 1861 and ending on May 14, 1861.

The other coin struck by the same three governments was the 1861-O Liberty Head double eagle.

The capture of New Orleans (April 25-May 1, 1862) by Union forces was a turning point in the Civil War. Panoramic view of New Orleans, circa 1862. Image: Wikimedia Commons.

Fate of the S.S. Republic

After eleven years of varying service, the steam ship was renamed the SS Republic after being sold at auction in 1865. It then returned it its past life as a cargo-passenger ship on the New York to New Orleans route. However, on her fifth civilian trek after the Civil War, a hurricane off the coast of Georgia resulted in severe hull leaks and she sank to the ocean’s floor on October 25, 1865. The total cargo of 5,000 barrels—that housed $400,000 in coins, mostly gold $10 and $20 pieces—was lost. In 2003, the wreck of the Republic was found, and a salvaging team recovered about one-third (51,000 coins) of the rare 19th-century gold and silver coins that were aboard (currently worth an estimated $75 million).