½ Dollar - The Confederate States of America

Only four originals were struck in silver in 1861, using a reverse die cut by engraver Robert Lovett Jr., who then panicked about prosecution for aiding the Confederacy and hid the dies — carrying one in his pocket for years until he was reportedly identified after spending a Confederate cent at a Philadelphia bar. The copper-nickel restrikes now in circulation were produced decades later by coin dealer Robert Bashlow in 1962, struck from the original reverse die paired with a restrike obverse.