Is there, or should there be, a condition census for the most popular Civil War Token?
Zoins
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I just ran across the following Merriam Good for a Scent token at CRO which mentions this is the most popular Civil War Token without question. Given it's popularity and the great specimens I've seen over time, I was wondering if there was, or if there should be a Condition Census for these?
- CRO: https://www.coinraritiesonline.com/index.php?page=search&task=det_item&item_id=466557
- CoinFacts: https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1863-token-f-115e-1a-copper-pe-jos-h-merriam-ma-bn/521400/63
- Cert Verification: https://www.pcgs.com/cert/38062922
1863 F-115E-1a, Struck in Copper with a Plain Edge.
Without question the most popular Civil War Token, this a pleasing medium brown Choice Unc. with considerable mellowed mint red on the obverse and reverse.
PCGS has 3 on CoinFacts but no Condition Census yet.
Of note, there was an announcement back in 2010 for CoinFacts and Condition Census for coins, so the question is should the same thing be done for tokens and medals?
The PCGS CoinFacts Condition Census Needs You!
PCGS CoinFacts™ is compiling a Condition Census for every United States coin... a list of the ten finest known specimens for all U.S. coins including Colonials, Patterns and Territorials. It's a massive multi-year project. A lot of the work has already been done and you can view it at pcgscoinfacts.com. But there's still a lot of work to do, including imaging all of the Condition Census coins. We need images and if you have a Condition Census coin, we can image your coin and promote it on the PCGS CoinFacts website. So ask yourself...
Comments
We could start one! I think it would be great to have a Census for some of the major types.
Regarding the Good For a Scent Token, I think people would be shocked at just how many mint state examples are out there. It was a popular design 150 years ago just as it is today, and many were put away for collections. That is not to say there are many available, as with anything that has more demand than supply can be difficult to locate. A lot of these are entrenched in "permanent" collections. And of course, if you compare its rarity relative to US coins it would have a pricetag of six figures!
Here is mine, far and away the nicest example I have ever seen:
1863 Good For A Scent by Joseph Merriam, MA-115E-1a NGC MS66+RB. From the Steve Tanenbaum Collection
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
I have always liked that token, being a dog owner....Never saw one at a coin show...probably would have purchased it if I had.....Cheers, RickO
On the copper Good For A Scent I've seen far more MS63-66 examples than XF45. So this design seems to have been saved in quantity at the time of issues due to it's neatness. I also have rarely ever seen a raw example as mostly all have been slabbed. Although PCGS is still the new kid on the block NGC has roughly 20 years on them grading exonumia. On this variety you could use both of their population reports to gander at figuring out what condition census might be.