Abraham Lincoln Campaign Coin From 1860 Found In Jewelry Box

As the 2012 presidential race heats up, a reminder of campaigns past has popped up in an unexpected place.

Rob and Christine Winter, owners of Antique Warehouse in Mankato, Minnesota, recently found a coin dating back to 1860 featuring the image of a beardless Abraham Lincoln on one side and his first Vice President Hannibal Hamlin on the other, KARE 11 reports. The coin is believed to have been handed out by Lincoln along the campaign trail in the same way modern-day politicos hand out buttons. But the coin is likely worth way more than that Romney 2012 pin; the treasure forgotten at the bottom of an old box of costume jewelry could be worth up to several thousand dollars.

"When people actually can touch that kind of piece of history," Rob Winter told KARE 11. "It just sends tingles up your spine, Abe Lincoln could have actually passed this thing out."

The Winters are surely happy to show the coin to interested parties, but when it comes to checking out some presidential campaign swag, Washington D.C's Newseum has a little more bang for your buck. The museum is currently running a new exhibit called “Every Four Years: Presidential Campaigns and the Press,” where visitors can view a variety of items ranging from Dwight Eisenhower's "I Like Ike" campaign ads, to a beer mug Hillary Clinton drank out during a campaign stop in Indiana. There's even the costume worn by comedian Tina Fey during her impersonation of then vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live.

But for those really passionate coin collectors, the next stop may have to be the UK. The most expensive gold coin ever sold at auction, the 1933 Double Eagle, will be displayed in London next month. The 20-dollar coin, which sold for $7.6 million at auction in 2002, is the only one of its kind in legal private ownership, as most were melted down before ever leaving the U.S. mint.

News for coin collectors only gets better. This year the New Hampshire-based, Littleton Coin Company is set to offer a run of rare dollar coins made between 1971 to 1978 featuring the face of President Dwight Eisenhower. The company discovered a stash of over 220,000 "Ike" dollar coins in a Montana bank vault and now plans to offer them for sale later this year at prices up to several hundred dollars per coin.

The United States could soon see metallic composition of two of its most iconic coins altered in an attempt to lower costs. Inside President Obama's budget proposal is a request to alter the makeup of the penny and nickel.

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Comments

[patrol1690]

03:44 PM on 04/24/2012

The crappy A
OL news post on this says a pawn dealer offered $300 for it because it was in bad condition. Uh...you could read all the words, plus see the silhouette very well. It wass in good condition. The owner thought it was worth more than the $300 offered. Duh. the pawn guy never pays what it's worth because he has to sell it for more!!! Better off selling it on Ebay or to someone who wants it for his own collection, avoiding the middleman who wants to make money on it, as well.

[vinny5717]

06:23 AM on 02/26/2012

what a cool find....why can I never find stuff like this? dang. I am lucky to find all of my socks after I do laundry.HA!

[pslcitizen]

01:59 AM on 02/26/2012

Wow, I bet that's worth a pretty PENNY!

[bba007]

10:28 PM on 02/25/2012

Since they found it, and didn't ever expect something like that, they should place it in the Smithonian.

[lawa]

03:17 PM on 02/25/2012

i have a bush cheney sweat shirt made in myanmar.

[bloomd]

04:59 PM on 02/25/2012

That's humorous since Bush and his wife kept calling Myanmar "Burma" long after it changed it's name.

[lawa]

06:54 PM on 02/25/2012

when the campaign was outed for having the sweats made by kids chained to sewing machines in the dictator led country they cancelled . for a fact halliburton was laying a pipeline in "burma" they paid protection money to the country's army.

[runswthscisors40]

03:16 PM on 02/25/2012

But the coin is likely worth way more than that Romney 2012 pin;

Now i hope Romney wins, just to make the lib writer of this eat crow..............

[James Ortegard]

10:17 PM on 02/25/2012

Well as the sayin' goes "You can hope in one hand..........." . If you get my drift!LOL

[bba007]

10:29 PM on 02/25/2012

Your Romney pin will go the way of all loser's pins, in the trash.

[notax]

02:49 PM on 02/25/2012

Campaign buttons are made of Soylent Green!!!

[smardy]

03:21 PM on 02/25/2012

whatzat

[gaiaone]

03:34 PM on 02/25/2012

Soylent green is people.

[hedunlap]

09:55 PM on 02/25/2012

Watch the movie "Soylent Green" and you'll always remember, forever.

[Tim Day]

01:54 PM on 02/25/2012

My cousin is Mark Chrans ....he started coin collecting at age 4 by the time he was 13 he was a millionaire...Now he is world known, if you have any questions on your coins look him up and tell him I sent you. He was also featured on 20/20 when he was 14 years old

[smardy]

03:22 PM on 02/25/2012

Idid. He's never heard of tim day.

[Tim Day]

03:26 PM on 02/25/2012

Wrong.....

[tadyer2336]

01:39 PM on 02/25/2012

theres NO copper in a penny

theres NO nickle in a 5 cent piece

so what changes in composition of these two coins is he wanting to make?

maybe put Lenins face on the nickle and karl marx on the penny ?
and make them out of steel ?

[Tim Day]

01:49 PM on 02/25/2012

Pennies made before 1982 are 95 % Copper the rest are Zinc...I don't know where you get your info but please stop posting incorrectly if you do not know your facts

[James Ortegard]

10:19 PM on 02/25/2012

And I am pretty sure nickles are indeed nickle.

[pcs5141]

01:50 PM on 02/25/2012

Soy/plastic

[Frank-ly Speaking]

11:42 AM on 02/25/2012

Then go back to Bavaria. Is your one fan Mad King Ludwig?

[The Bavarian]

12:55 PM on 02/25/2012

King Ludwig as I am sure you know, was a " harmless " king. Can you say the SAME thing? I did not think so

[mike711l]

09:24 AM on 02/25/2012

I found a Ron Paul button from the same year, think it's worth anything?

[Jeff McConnell]

03:24 PM on 02/25/2012

lol

[Dignify America]

09:46 PM on 02/25/2012

Obama said that he wanted the U.S. Mint to make a penny with his image on it. They told him that it was way too late for him to try to make any cents.

[papamav]

12:30 AM on 02/26/2012

LOL!! Thats awesome! And correct!

[ccdae5]

08:21 AM on 02/25/2012

Ike dollars are not valuable, I have 40 of them and they can still be found at fleamarkets for a couple of bucks. Of course this coin company will try to convince buyer that they are priceless.

[leoganz]

11:37 AM on 02/25/2012

Yeah it was funny they said we'll sell them for a couple hundred each..good luck with that!

[pcs5141]

01:28 PM on 02/25/2012

Just have to wait another 100 years.

[tlee47ftw]

12:46 PM on 02/25/2012

I am not a numismatist, or whatever the word would be, but there were numerous minor changes in the Eisenhower dollars, I suspect that it is some of these variations that is valuable. If you have 40, I would support a num....... whatever and see.

[ccdae5]

10:34 AM on 02/26/2012

Could be, some very early ones may have been 40% silver and there was a special bicenntennial issue but unless they are special proofs, I've not seen much value. I just like them for their size and weight.

[Ken Villone]

08:18 PM on 02/24/2012

The Ike dollars are worth just that, one dollar, unless you come across a "Perfect MS-70 coin". Littleton coins have a reputation for outlandish prices selling to unsuspecting folks who know no better. The Lincoln piece is a campaign token with a hole in it so folks can wear it around their necks during the campaign. Anything "Lincoln" and genuine is rare and has historical importance.

[Mr Me]

06:18 PM on 02/24/2012

I blame Lincoln for most of our problems today.

[rightasrain]

10:21 PM on 02/24/2012

Omgosh!. Can't believe they left those posts on here.

[Ken Villone]

08:21 PM on 02/24/2012

I blame Johnson, Clinton and Obama for most of our problems today too!

[rufusxfirefly]

11:05 AM on 02/25/2012

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

[dwbarne]

01:27 PM on 02/25/2012

I blame you!

[AmericanLegacy]

06:01 PM on 02/24/2012

TOO bad Huffpo has to perpetuate ignorance of correct numismatic nomenclature. The Lincoln piece is a medal, NOT a coin. The Lincoln campaign medal was made by a private medalist and was never intended as legal tender for public or private use. U.S. coins (each with a monetary denomination) can only be made by the U.S. Mint, which is a branch of the Treasury Bureau.

[tlee47ftw]

12:49 PM on 02/25/2012

A couple of definitions of coin from Merriam-Webster....
c : something resembling a coin especially in shape
4: something having two different and usually opposing sides