Check out this iconic Civil War token- Strasburger & Nuhn "No North, No South, One Flag, One Union."
DCW
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NY, New York NY-630-BW-1b • Strasburger & Nuhn • R: 1189: Eagle perched on rock in sea, holding serpent (NO NORTH / NO SOUTH / ONE FLAG / ONE UNION) • PCGS MS-65+
Here is one of the most iconic pictorials of the entire Civil War token series and now a part of my box of twenty token type set. I've always loved this design, and this one is a flashy, lustrous gem from Rich Rossa's famous collection of NY Civil War tokens. That set in its entirety was acquired by Q. David Bowers long ago and has been off the market for decades.
This storecard was issued by New York City businessmen, Strasburger & Nuhn of 65 Maiden Lane, who imported luxury items from the mid 1800s through the turn of the century. Judging from the motto, "No North, No South, One Flag, One Union," it was most likely issued in late 1860/ early 1861, a pacifist message lost in the drumbeat to war.
In January 1864, there was a big fire at their location which killed an employee and badly injured another:
These tokens are wildly popular with collectors, one of several issues that have crossover appeal to coin collectors outside of exonumia. I'm extremely excited to have had the opportunity to add such a well preserved specimen to my set. You don't find them like this everyday!
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Comments
Amazing design and condition @DCW! You have some really sweet Civil War Tokens.
Do you who designed and struck it? Hayden just sold one in Fine condition, worlds apart in beauty!
@dcw That is a simply incredible token. Beautiful and historically important. It hardly gets better than that. Just remarkable!
Have you ever seen any other example close to the condition of your token?
I dont know. They are done in the style of other "Spiel Marke" tokens (German play money) of the era, but I do not know the die sinker.
John Ford, Jr. had a NGC MS66 in his Collection that was auctioned in 2013 a duplicate in the same auction. Neither one looked quite as good as this one, which is slabbed PCGS MS65+.
@NewEnglandRarities has a beautiful one on his site right now, slabbed NGC MS65PL.
Most that I have seen have been circulated. Finding a problem free, uncirculated one can take time as the tend to go into advanced collections for long periods of time.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Wish the general meaning of the motto on the token, “No North, No South, One Flag, One Union” be taken to heart by people for many things. Life would be so much more pleasant.
Thanks for posting the token @DCW.
@Hemispherical
Such a simple motto and yet so profound.
This elegant little token is one of my favorites!
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
I have. It’s in my collection, but it’s not certified. I bought it many years ago.
His supporting articles are wonderful.
Their original building, 65 Maiden Lane, no longer exists and has been replaced with a skyscraper, but their new building in the newspaper article above, 394 Broadway, still exists. The building was constructed by John W. Southack who had made his fortune in the furniture business at the outset of the Civil War.
There's a great article on 394 Broadway here which mentions Strasburger & Nuhn.
It would make sense if these were made by the same people who made the German Spiel Marke tokens as Strasburger & Nuhn were importers from Germany:
https://tribecacitizen.com/the-history-of-tribeca-buildings/the-history-of-394-broadway/
It's the 2nd from the left here. I love the horse carriages here compared to the modern photo below with a car in front.
Here's a period ad from when they were renamed to Strasburger & Pfeiffer.
Here's the building today. It's pretty incredible that this was built during the Civil War when people were still rinding around on horses.
Here's the @NewEnglandRarities specimen.
NY, New York NY-630-BW-1b • Strasburger & Nuhn • R: 1189: Eagle perched on rock in sea, holding serpent (NO NORTH / NO SOUTH / ONE FLAG / ONE UNION) • NGC MS65 PL
NGC only has 3 PLs, one each in 63, 64 and 65.
https://nerarities.com/product/1863-strasburger-and-nuhn-cwt-fuld-ny-630bw-1b-ngc-ms65pl/
The link between Strasburger & Nuhn and Spiel Marke tokens is pretty strong as I just found this one on Heritage. Interesting that "Importers" is spelled with a "J" for "Jmporters".
Some of the Spiel Marke token makers are known like Ludwig Christian Lauer in Nuremburg, Germany. I wonder if the dies can be traced to other Spiel Marke tokens with known minters to identify who Strasburger & Nuhn was working with.
This is a neat thread.
Ken Bauer's cwtoken.com site indicates the "No North No South One Flag One Union" die was done Ludwig Christoph Lauer of Nuremberg, Bavaria, who also did Spiel Marke tokens as mentioned above.
I bought this piece about 20 years ago.
That is a great design.... I would definitely like one of those.... and more so, I would like to see the spirit of the motto more prevalent today. Cheers, RickO
Some great info added by @Zoins !
And a very nice example posted by @BillJones
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."