Civil War Soldier’s Leather Change Purse with period coins & button, and a dug example included

This is another nice piece being offered, it is a leather purse measuring approximately  3 ¼” x 3 ½” with an 1853 Large Liberty cent, an 1863 one-cent, an 1857 Flying Eagle Cent, and a small General Service eagle button.

In the Fredericksburg Virginia Visitor Center and Museum, there is a change purse like this one which was removed from a dead Union soldier by at Confederate at the base of Marye's Heights (see pictures).

Obviously, these change purses were popular with the soldiers – remnants are a common find at Civil War camps and battlefields, but the leather is usually gone with only the metal parts remaining. I am including a dug example of this purse which makes it a very interesting display.

This is a great piece and extra special having the dug example included. The leather is slightly worn, but solid and still snaps shut and opens. I have a similar example in my book “The Civil War Soldier – His Personal Items” (see pictures). There is another one of these change purses that was picked up from the Gettysburg Battlefield (see pictures). This change purse would make a great addition to a soldier's personal effects.