A Rare Find From the Civil War Era
02/21/16
<p><strong>Mar 13, 2011 - Sunday I had to drive my son back to Boston and stopped just outside of town at a green... and had a blast!</strong> :-) I recovered a nice 1899 Barber Dime, an 1864 and 1893 Indian Head Pennies, a large Token for a Daredevil Show… Two older lead toys…
<p>Then along came a 12/31 6-7” signal… I figured it was probably an old pull tab, but you never know and I was digging anything that repeated that day… I cut a deep plug and in the side of the plug I saw some gilt… and popped out a set of cuff links… not just any cuff links… Federal Revenue Cutter buttons appear to be Civil war era... It says this group eventually became the Coast Guard.</p>[split]
<p>These are a rare find...</p>
<p><em>Wikipedia quotes:</em></p>
<blockquote>"The United States Revenue Cutter Service was established by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in 1790 as an armed maritime law enforcement service. Throughout its entire existence the Revenue Cutter Service operated under the authority of the United States Department of the Treasury. In 1915 the Service merged with the United States Life-Saving Service to form the United States Coast Guard."</blockquote>
<blockquote>Civil War-
"Revenue Cutters assisted Navy operations throughout the war. The USRC Harriet Lane joined a Federal naval squadron to capture Forts Clark and Hatteras, which served as bases for Confederate blockade runners. USRC E.A. Stevens, a prototype 110-foot semi-submersible ironclad gunboat, participated in the unsuccessful sortie up the James River to Drewry's Bluff in company with the USS Monitor, USS Galena and two other gunboats, to attack the Confederate capital at Richmond. After carrying President Lincoln from Washington on May 9, 1862, the USRC Miami assisted navy transports in landing Federal troops at Ocean View, Virginia.
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President Abraham Lincoln ordered the Secretary of the Treasury on June 14, 1863, "You will co-operate by the revenue cutters under your direction with the navy in arresting rebel depredations on American commerce and transportation and in capturing rebels engaged therein."
<br>
When Lincoln was assassinated on April 15, 1865, Revenue Cutters were ordered to search all ships for any assassins that might be trying to escape."
</blockquote>