The Cellar - 6/1: Confederate sub gold piece

http://cellar.org/pictures/hunleygold.jpg

This is the most valuable find on the excavation of the confederate sub H.L. Hunley, which I've written about here before.

From their web site:
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The long-awaited treasure of the H. L. Hunley, Lt. George Dixon's gold coin was found inside the submarine. Dr. Robert Neyland, Project Director says, "The coin was found by Dixon's remains and in the middle of some textiles, possibly he kept it in his pants pocket." The coin is bent, true to the story that a bullet hit the coin and saved Lt. Dixon's leg and life. The story goes that his sweetheart, Queenie Bennett gave him a 20-dollar United States gold piece for luck, he kept it with him in his pants pocket. On April 6, 1862, in the Battle of Shiloh, Lt. Dixon was shot in the leg. Luckily when he was shot, the bullet hit the gold piece, in essence saving his life. It was told that Dixon always kept that lucky coin with him and it now appears that he truly did. "Some people may think this is a stroke of luck, but perhaps it's something else. They tell me that Lt. Dixon was a lady's man, perhaps he winked at us yesterday to remind us that he still is," said Maria Jacobsen, Senior Archaeologist. "The presence of the coin absolutely confirms the identity of Lt. George E. Dixon. It removes all doubt, and, also speaks of his character and faith," said Warren Lasch, Chairman of Friends of the Hunley. "Part of the Hunley?s excavation was to separate fact from fable. The discovery of the coin and its inscription is like discovering Cinderella's glass slipper," said Senator Glenn McConnell, Chairman of the Hunley Commission.

The coin was minted in 1860 and one side has lady liberty, it was the side the bullet hit. The other side has the Federal shield and eagle symbol. That side appears to be sanded and has an inscription in cursive script that reads in four lines:

Shiloh April 6, 1862 My life Preserver G. E. D. (Lt. Dixon's initials)