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Three Cased Seals in Gold, Silver and Bronze, of the Great Seal of the Confederacy

Currency:USD Category:Antiques / Firearms & Armory Start Price:3,000.00 USD Estimated At:NA
Three Cased Seals in Gold, Silver and Bronze, of the Great Seal of the Confederacy
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Estimate: $7500 - 15000
Each seal measures 3 1/2 inches in diameter, featuring George Washington in the center (modeled after an equestrian statue in Richmond), surrounded by a wreath of Confederate products (wheat, cotton, tobacco, corn, sugar and rice) and the text "THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA : 22 FEBRUARY 1862" and "DEO VINDICE" around the exterior. Each is then set in a glass topped frame within it's case, the gold and bronze in red leather cases with yellow felt lining, and the silver in a purple velvet lined Gutta Percha case, which has designs of eagles with shields and spears on the lower corners, maidens with trumpets and fronds in the upper corners, a floral scroll design on the rear and a rendering of the Washington statue, including base and accent statues on the front. Some accent statues are absent, which is proper for a wartime image as the full assembly was not completed until 1869. Ordered by the Confederacy to serve as both a means to emboss documents and to lend themselves credibility as a government, the original Great Seal of the Confederacy was engraved in England, and smuggled in-country via Bermuda circa 1864. As the embossing machine never left Bermuda, the Seal saw little use, and was eventually smuggled out of Richmond by one William Bromwell, disbursing clerk with the Confederate State Department, along with the contents of the State Department Archives. Nearly a decade later, in 1872, Bromwell, by way of John T. Pickett, former Confederate Commissioner to Mexico, arranged for the sale of the Confederate Archive to the U.S. Government. At the close of the deal, Pickett gave the Seal as a gift to Lieutenant (later Admiral) Thomas O. Selfridge, USN, the Government representative for the deal. A year later, Pickett, on unknown pretenses, borrowed the seal from Selfridge and took it to one Samuel H. Black of New York. Operating under a Masonic Oath to not reveal his involvement, Black produced a series of electrotype copies in gold, silver and bronze directly from the original seal. Pickett returned the original to Selfridge, and made a brisk business of selling the copies as original.
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Condition: All three seals are excellent, with the cases showing some wear and tear appropriate to age, with a small crack in the Gutta Percha.