In addition to the coins commemorating the civil war (see yesterday’s post) with a portion of their funds going to help preserve battlefields, the US Mint also provided the coins in a variety of sets. There’s the 1995 Prestige Set which included both the silver commemorative dollar and the cupro-nickel clad half dollar along with the five regular proof coins for 1995.
They also produced a Civil War Battlefield Young Collector’s Edition with the cupro-nickel clad half dollar as the focal point of the set along with the historical comments aimed at younger collectors.
A variety of other special sets for the civil war battlefield coins were introduced as well. One of these, seen less frequently, is the two-coin “Union Case” set.
Let’s take a look:
As described in the accompanying booklet, “Union,” in this case, is not because the Union soldiers carried a similar box. Instead, “Union” describes the construction and chemical process for the plastic in the mid-1800s. It was a “union” of sawdust and shellac and made to hold and protect photographs. Soldiers on both sides carried cases similar to this one with pictures of their families and loved ones inside.
This box, produced for the Civil War Battlefield coins, replicated a “Union Case” made by Peck and Halvorson in Connecticut. Their design included a gilded image of the reverse of the $10 gold coin of the time.
Opened, the replica case shows off the obverse images of the Civil War Battlefield commemorative coins against a dark green velvet background (see yesterday’s post for larger images of the coins):
Turning the coins over, their reverse designs can be seen:
The US Mint included a small booklet in the set with the cover showing a copy of a civil-war era photograph.
The booklet provided historical commentary about the photographs of the time, the methods used by photographers and the information about the Union Case including a picture of the original.
At the back of the booklet, a fold-out section includes the Certificate of Authenticity information and the coin specifications for the two commemorative coins.
A simple dark green box with a silver heraldic eagle and “United States Mint” on the lid holds the Union Case and the accompanying historical booklet.
Both the Union Case and the booklet provide additional insights into the people and their interests during a difficult period of our history. They, in addition to the civil war battlefield coins, help us learn about our history.