Liberia's early 2000s commemorative program was prolific to the point of controversy — the country issued dozens of silver pieces annually, many with no meaningful domestic circulation, targeting the collector market almost exclusively through overseas distributors. This American Civil War subseries was part of that wave. The Siege of Petersburg, which lasted from June 1864 to April 1865, was among the longest of the war and included the famous Battle of the Crater in July 1864, where Union forces detonated a mine beneath Confederate lines — a tactical disaster that cost nearly 4,000 Union casualties in a single morning.
Liberia's early 2000s commemorative program was prolific to the point of controversy — the country issued dozens of silver pieces annually, many with no meaningful domestic circulation, targeting the collector market almost exclusively through overseas distributors. This American Civil War subseries was part of that wave. The Siege of Petersburg, which lasted from June 1864 to April 1865, was among the longest of the war and included the famous Battle of the Crater in July 1864, where Union forces detonated a mine beneath Confederate lines — a tactical disaster that cost nearly 4,000 Union casualties in a single morning.