Civil War token
Civil War tokens are
Civil War tokens became illegal after the United States Congress passed a law on April 22, 1864, prohibiting the issue of any one or two-cent coins, tokens or devices for use as currency. On June 8, 1864, an additional law was passed that forbade all private coinage.[1]
Civil War tokens are divided into three types: store cards, patriotic tokens, and sutler tokens. All three types were utilized as currency, and are differentiated by their designs. The collectible value of the tokens is primarily determined by their condition and rarity.
History
By 1862, the second year of the Civil War, government-issued coinage began vanishing from circulation. American citizens hoarded all coins with gold and silver, and eventually began hoarding copper-nickel
Lindenmueller tokens are one of the best-known and commonly struck types. They served as store cards (advertisements) for Lindenmueller and he had more than one million of these one-cent tokens struck and placed into circulation in 1863. One of the common uses for the token was for streetcar fare. The Third Avenue Railroad company of New York, which had willingly accepted a large quantity of the Lindenmueller tokens in lieu of actual currency, asked Lindenmueller to redeem them. He refused, and the railroad had no legal recourse. Incidents such as these eventually forced the government to intervene.[3]
Government intervention
On April 22, 1864, Congress enacted the
While the Coinage Act made Civil War tokens impractical, the issue of their legality was decided on June 8, 1864, when Congress enacted
Types
Civil War tokens have been extensively cataloged by Fuld[2] and his numbering of types is the standard.
Patriotic tokens
Patriotic Civil War tokens typically displayed a patriotic slogan or image on one or both sides. Since the majority of these tokens were minted in Union states, the slogans and images were decidedly pro-Union. Some common examples of slogans found on patriotic tokens are "The Union Must and Shall Be Preserved",[6] "Union For Ever",[7] and "Old Glory". Some of the images found on patriotic tokens were the flag of the United States, a 19th-century cannon, and the USS Monitor.[8]
Among the best-known varieties of patriotic tokens are the so-called "Dix tokens." They are named for
Store cards
Civil War store cards advertised the name and/or location of privately owned businesses.[11] Businesses that could afford it had two custom dies made, with both advertising the business. Otherwise, only one side displayed the business's information.
Sutler tokens
Sutler tokens are similar to store cards. Rather than listing the name of a private business, however, these tokens bore the name of a particular army unit (usually a regiment) and the name of the sutler who conducted transactions with the regiment.[12] Of the three types of Civil War tokens, sutler tokens are by far the rarest.
Collecting
There are several factors that determine the collectible value of Civil War tokens including condition and rarity. Rarity is measured on a scale from 1 to 10 (1 being the most common type). The scale was developed by noted numismatic dealer and writer George Fuld.
The material used to mint Civil War tokens can also affect collectability. Civil war tokens were minted using a variety of materials,
Fuld rarity scale
- R-1: Greater than 5,000
- R-2: Between 2,000 and 5,000
- R-3: Between 500 and 2,000
- R-4: Between 200 and 500
- R-5: Between 76 and 200
- R-6: Between 21 and 75
- R-7: Between 11 and 20
- R-8: Between 5 and 10
- R-9: Between 2 and 4
- R-10: Unique (one known example)
Civil War Token Society
In 1967 the Civil War Token Society was founded by a group of collectors for the purpose of "stimulat[ing] interest and research in the field of Civil War token collecting." The society publishes a quarterly journal, The Civil War Token Journal, maintains a library, and conducts quarterly mail auctions.[13]
See also
Notes and references
- ISBN 1-58238-199-2
- ^ ISBN 0-88000-135-6
- ^ Tebben, Gerald. "An overview of Civil War Tokens" Archived June 27, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, Columbus, O., Civil War Tokens. Retrieved June 26, 2006.
- ^ "Indian Head Cents". CoinFacts.com. Retrieved on June 23, 2006
- ^ "Indian Head Bronze Cents 1864-1909" Archived 2006-06-16 at the Wayback Machine. www.coinresource.com. Retrieved on June 23, 2006.
- ^ "1863 Token F-136/397a Copper Union Must Be Preserved Patriotic, BN (Regular Strike)". pcgs.com. Collectors Universe, Inc. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
- ^ "1863 Token F-176/271b GW-640 Brass Equestrian - Union Forever (Regular Strike)". pcgs.com. Collectors Universe, Inc. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
- ^ Farr, Arthur W. March 1999. "More on the . Retrieved July 1, 2006 Archived May 8, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Dix Token". americanhistory.si.edu. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ Gelbwasser, Michael. "Not just a token hobby". thesunchronicle.com. The Sun Chronicle. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ "Historic Civil War Tokens from the NGC-certified Partrick Collection in Heritage Auctions Sale". ngccoin.com. Numismatic Guaranty Company. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- ^ Bulfinch, Chris. "DID YOU KNOW THAT CIVIL WAR SUTLERS ISSUED TOKENS AND SCRIP NOTES?". stacksbowers.com. Stack’s Bowers Numismatics, LLC. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- ^ "CWTS-About". cwtsociety.com. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
External links
- The Civil War Token Society
- G.W. Forbes Civil War Sutler Token Archived 2014-06-10 at the Wayback Machine
- Civil War Tokens - Store Cards (broken link as of December 2013)
- Rare Civil War Sutler Coins Archived 2014-05-03 at the Wayback Machine Shapell Manuscript Foundation
- Civil War Token Resources
- High resolution photographs of Civil War Token types