English: 1861 50C Original Confederate Half Dollar
(1216-5847)
Only four examples were reported to have been struck, this example belonged to CSA President Jefferson Davis (see Heritage Auctions description).
This was only struck at the New Orleans mint as a proof to see if the molds would release properly. The paucity of silver and gold in the Confederacy prevented its production.
Obverse: Liberty seated and holding a Liberty pole. An arc of 13 stars has been reinterpreted to represent the 13 Confederate States (which unofficially included Kentucky and Missouri). This was a Confederate copy of the standard obverse used on the American silver half-dime, dime, quarter, and half-dollar from the 1830s to 1891 and the American silver dollar from 1840 to 1873.
Reverse: A Liberty pole behind a modified Federal Shield with 7 stars in the chief over 7 pallets on a field, representing the original 7 Confederate States (South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Texas, & Florida). This is inset in a wreath of a crossed cotton plant (left branch) and tobacco plant (right branch), representing the South's two most important cash crops.