*Highlight* NGC 1857 SS Republic Seated Half Dollar Shipwreck Effect 50c NGC (fc)

*Highlight* NGC 1857 SS Republic Seated Half Dollar Shipwreck Effect 50c NGC (fc)
*Highlight* NGC 1857 SS Republic Shipwreck Effect Seated Half Dollar 50c NGC. In October 1865, six months after the end of the Civil War, the side-wheel steamer SS Republic was bound from New York to New Orleans. Aboard the former Civil War blockade ship was precious cargo to aid in the rebuilding of the war-ravaged city of New Orleans to its prewar glory.During and just after the Civil War, in both the North and especially the South, gold and silver coins were valued but extremely scarce commodities. Rampant inflation, caused by both sides financing their huge war costs through the near-nonstop printing of paper currency, resulted in the widespread hoarding of “hard money.” At the end of the war, the South, for all practical purposes, was broke and its paper money was worthless, its hard money virtually gone. The SS Republic was on a mission to restart the Southern economy. Shortly after beginning the archaeological excavation in November 2003, gold coins were discovered at the stern of the ship, near the ship’s rudder. Using a proprietary Sediment Removal and Filtration (SeRF) system on the ROV, sand was carefully removed from the site revealing a dazzling 'carpet of gold' hidden on the ocean floor for nearly 140 years.?More than 51,000 gold and silver coins were recovered from the seabed, including numerous $20.00 Double Eagles, $10.00 Eagles, silver half dollars and even a few silver quarter dollars each coin individually retrieved by the silicone limpet device attached to the ROV’s manipulator arm. All of the coins were professionally conserved by Numismatic Conservation Services (NCS) and graded by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC). Unlike other recently salvaged shipwrecks, a wide variety of dates and mints ranging from the 1840s to 1865 were documented in this remarkable hoard including many of the finest-known examples of United States gold and silver coins from the period and highly collectible today.?In addition to its extraordinary cargo of gold coins, the Republic’s treasure yielded some exceptionally unique silver half dollars and provided an unprecedented opportunity for numismatic research.?In 1861, three different governments (the United States Government, the Louisiana government and the Confederacy) had control of the New Orleans Mint and struck silver half dollars there. Due to the large number of 1861-O Liberty Seated half dollars found on the Republic, coin experts were finally able to determine which coins were minted by each government by analyzing the subtle variations caused by the use of different dies. This research was published in the Gobrecht Journal in November 2006 and for the first time ever has allowed 1861-O Seated Liberty half dollars to be certified by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation as being minted by each of the three governments operating in Louisiana in 1861. After thorough documentation and reserving a representative sample for the permanent collection, these historic coins available to collectors as individual coins or in a set representing all three minting governments in the New Orleans Mint Three Government Set.?A full set of 1861-O half dollars containing all 17 die variations is currently on display with 28 other rare coins from the Republic at the Louisiana State Museum located in the old U.S. Mint where the coins were originally minted.?Also aboard the Republic were stunningly preserved silver half dollars struck in the North by the U.S. Philadelphia Mint. These were found on the wreck site laying side by side with equally remarkable silver halves struck in the South’s New Orleans Mint. Together they symbolize the mighty struggle that divided the country in 1865, and today they make up an impressive Civil War Blue & Gray 1861 Half-Dollar Collection.?