Civil War Identification Tag. Unissued. Banks. Maier-Stahl 7A. White Metal. Extremely Fine. 34 mm. Rich, mottled steel and pewter-gray patina adorns surfaces that are well preserved despite having acquired light rub. Nathaniel P. Banks had been Governor of Massachusetts before the war, but he proved to be a more successful politician than a military tactician. After a few unsuccessful campaigns against the likes of Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley, he was assigned mostly to Western positions, far from the major battlefields. In view of his record, the soldiers under his command probably did not have great confidence in him, and being far from the action, were not especially worried about being killed -- both perhaps reasons for the extreme rarity of this type of tag. From Presidential Coin and Antique Co., Inc.s Auction Eighty One, June 2011, lot 76. Lot tag included.
