A Lincoln political token on last night’s Pawn Stars show
Last night at the end of the second Pawn Stars a man showed up at the night window with a Lincoln token. Upon further close-ups it was noted that the piece was a DeWitt AL 1864 – 36. The night lady (I can’t recall her name) called in Rick to look at it.
The man was asking $1,500 for the piece. Rick said that all Lincoln tokens are rare (not true), and said that the piece was badly worn (only a VG, which is an unusually low grade for a strictly political piece). Rick batted around a $300 number.
I own half (the obverse) of the AL 1864 - 36 which shares its obverse with the AL 1864 - 37. Neither of these pieces is tremendously rare or in the top ranks of popularity in the series. Given the condition of the piece that Rick was offered, his guess of $300 was way off base. I would say that the piece was worth no more than $50 or so retail.
Here is my AL 1864 – 37 which has the eagle, flag and drum reverse. The AL 1864 – 36 has wreath encircling a five pointed star surrounded by rays on the reverse. My piece is holded which in the opinion of some collectors makes it better because there is a reasonable chance that the piece was used during the 1864 presidential campaign.
![image](http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q320/BillJones_album/Lincoln%20Political%20tokens/AL1864-37O.jpg)
![image](http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q320/BillJones_album/Lincoln%20Political%20tokens/AL1864-37R.jpg)
The man was asking $1,500 for the piece. Rick said that all Lincoln tokens are rare (not true), and said that the piece was badly worn (only a VG, which is an unusually low grade for a strictly political piece). Rick batted around a $300 number.
I own half (the obverse) of the AL 1864 - 36 which shares its obverse with the AL 1864 - 37. Neither of these pieces is tremendously rare or in the top ranks of popularity in the series. Given the condition of the piece that Rick was offered, his guess of $300 was way off base. I would say that the piece was worth no more than $50 or so retail.
Here is my AL 1864 – 37 which has the eagle, flag and drum reverse. The AL 1864 – 36 has wreath encircling a five pointed star surrounded by rays on the reverse. My piece is holded which in the opinion of some collectors makes it better because there is a reasonable chance that the piece was used during the 1864 presidential campaign.
![image](http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q320/BillJones_album/Lincoln%20Political%20tokens/AL1864-37O.jpg)
![image](http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q320/BillJones_album/Lincoln%20Political%20tokens/AL1864-37R.jpg)
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
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I saw that but fell asleep before he arrived at the shop to look at it. You have a cool piece. Lincoln himself could have handed that to someone during the campaign.
On a side not and not to hijack this thread, by the description on the Dish Network info for that show last night I thought Charmy was gonna be on it with the WWII camera. She wasn't.
Too many positive BST transactions with too many members to list.
Best,
Eric
<< <i>I saw the show also and wondered what it was actually worth. Guess the guy should have taken the $300!! Thanks for the insight! >>
<< <i>Lincoln himself could have handed that to someone during the campaign. >>
It is possible but only very remotely possible.
In the 19th century presidential candidates almost never campaigned for votes. They had surrogate speakers do the campaigning for them. The reason was that it was considered unseemly for a candidate to seek the presidency actively in public. It went back a mind set attributed to George Washington’s time. A man should never actively seek the presidency, but if the offer was made, it was his duty to accept it.