Connecticut--New Boston. 1863 Aaron White Patriotic Calendar Medal. Brass. Plain Edge. MS-64 (NGC). 39 mm. <strong>Obv:</strong> Typical calendar medal design, with the peripheral legend showing the dates of INDEPENDENCE, CONSTITUTION and EMANCIPATION. <strong>Rev:</strong> Progression table, the date Jan. 1. 1863 with AARON WHITE, NEW BOSTON, CONN and PRICE 25 CTS. The birth and death dates of Franklin, Washington, Lafayette, and Jefferson surround the central device. Modestly prooflike brassy-gold surfaces with a tinge of rose-apricot iridescence. A difficult piece to categorize, this is a very rare item, once apparently considered to be a Civil War store card (Fuld 280A-1b), and also a calendar medal, a close relative of Whites Anti-Greenback so-called dollars HK 829 to 831, as well as a commemorative medal honoring Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, Lafayette, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Emancipation Proclamation. Given that the medal is dated January 1, 1863 (the day the Emancipation Proclamation was announced), this is the first numismatic reference to it. White, an attorney, was considered one of the most eccentric men in Connecticut. He was apparently convinced that the Federal government would collapse soon, and thus he hoarded hard money: copper, silver, gold, anything but paper. His tons of coins, collected when large cents and Spanish silver coins were being pulled from circulation, led him to become something of a numismatist, just as the hobby was exploding in interest. Upon his death the enormous pile of coins buried in his backyard were shoveled into heavy cloth bags for delivery to his brother in New Jersey. Collector envelope included.
