"1861" Medal Fort Sumter Copper 70mm Robert Anderson

Coin Details

Auction Record

$3,360 SP62BN 06-16-2023 Stack's Bowers

Description

This 70mm copper medal commemorates Fort Sumter and Major Robert Anderson, who commanded the Union garrison at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, when Confederate forces opened fire on April 12, 1861, beginning the American Civil War. Anderson, a Kentucky-born career Army officer, had moved his small command from the indefensible Fort Moultrie to the stronger Fort Sumter in December 1860 after South Carolina's secession. After 34 hours of bombardment, Anderson surrendered the fort on April 14, 1861 — remarkably, without a single combat fatality on either side. Anderson became an instant Northern hero, and his defense of the flag was celebrated in medals, prints, and popular culture throughout the North. The generous 70mm diameter of this medal allows for detailed portraiture and inscriptional text honoring Anderson's stand. Dated symbolically to 1861, this medal was produced shortly after the battle or as a later commemorative. Anderson returned to Fort Sumter on April 14, 1865 — exactly four years after the surrender — to raise the same flag he had lowered, on the very day President Lincoln was assassinated.

Rarity Notes

Scarce. Civil War commemorative medals of this size were produced in limited numbers, and copper versions are less common than white metal equivalents.

Cross References

PCGS #919993