Go fish! 1863 M.L. Marshall Oswego, NY Civil War token

DCW

1863 M.L. Marshall, Oswego, NY PCGS MS66BN

Here is a very common Civil War token in breathtaking condition with pristine electric blue and green surfaces. For the last 150 years collectors have been attracted to Marshall's storecard for two reasons: it's simple, elegant fish motif and the head scratching reverse die advertising "Toys, fancy goods, fishing tackle, and rare coins!"
From the Q. David Bowers Reference Set and Richard Rossa Collection

calgolddiver

@DCW ... Dennis - you're killing me ... awesome example

coinsarefun

Super nice example. Even though they are relatively common it’s difficult to
find better grade, well struck examples. You can actually see the scales on yours!

DCW

@coinsarefun said:
Super nice example. Even though they are relatively common it’s difficult to
find better grade, well struck examples. You can actually see the scales on yours!

I've noticed that as well. Most examples show signs of circulation, spots, issues.
This was in Rossa's famous collection of NY tokens, so I'm not surprised on the quality. Just a lovely gem.

Would you post your example ML Marshall's 1860 token? That is another nice one!

Boosibri

Love your token posts @DCW, keep them coming!

Oldhoopster

I always liked that CWT. It was the first one I ever purchased, which put on the road to learning a lot of Civil War history. I no longer actively collect CWTs but still have about 100+ diff store cards and patriotics (I'm partial to the Upstate NY store cards) and still keep my membership in the CWTS (for 30+ years)

291fifth

Exceptional eye appeal!

stman

Nice

ricko

Product diversity.... forerunner of department stores....Cheers, RickO

johnny9434

nice token, I like

coinsarefun

@Zoins unfortunately I sold mine, another regret. However I do have the larger copper
and silver examples of the larger diameter with the fisherman design. I’ll post it soon.
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@Oldhoopster you need to post your merchant tokens. I would love to see them.

coinsarefun

I don’t have a composite image available for the silver but, it’s
1860 OSWEGO M-NY-1007 HENRY SOUTH COLLECTION NGC MS 63

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Copper is:
1860 OSWEGO M-NY-1008 M.L. MARSHALL MCCLURE COLLECTION NGC MS 65 RB
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CWT1863

Outstanding! I have always liked that one. I used to have a low grade example but sold it.

kaz

I really like this one too!

DCW

There is also an 1862 dated version of the larger merchant card Stef posted. Same die, but reworked to add another tree in the background and punch a 2 over the 0.
Anybody have one? I believe it is the rarest one (outside of specific metal strikes.)

Zoins

@coinsarefun said:
I don’t have a composite image available for the silver but, it’s
1860 OSWEGO M-NY-1007 HENRY SOUTH COLLECTION NGC MS 63

Great tokens Stef! The silver is very rare and the copper is in great condition.

I don't know a lot about this issue but the silver obverse seems to lack a lot of detail for a MS63, especially when compared to the copper MS65RB example. The fisherman and tree stand out. From the photos, it looks like it could be circulated to me, but perhaps it's just weakly struck?

Paradisefound

The cool hue goes with the Fish ..... beautiful addition @DCW

coinsarefun

@Zoins . Yeah the silver is quite rare. It was supposed to be 25 struck and less than 10 survived.
The silver is notorious for a weak strike and the copper is actually leaps better than the pic.
Just can’t seem to get a good image.

Stella

Very nice example, @DCW. Thanks for posting!

kiyote

Wow that is a well-designed token!

DCW

Here is the 1862 version. Notice the newly added tree in the background and the 2/0 in the date.

Zoins

Do we know who the die sinker was for these?

Does any info from M.L. Marshall’s Variety Store remain other than their tokens?

DCW

@Zoins said:
Do we know who the die sinker was for these?

Does any info from M.L. Marshall’s Variety Store remain other than their tokens?

I have no idea who the die sinker was.
But wouldnt it be cool if M.L. Marshall was somehow an ancestor of the Marshalls chain of stores today?

coinsarefun

@Zoins said:
Do we know who the die sinker was for these?

Does any info from M.L. Marshall’s Variety Store remain other than their tokens?

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I was bidding on the 2 tree and 1 tree copper a few years back and I accidentally threw in a bid
for the 1 tree by mistake,so I ended up with 2 one tree’s stupid me
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https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/comment/11279085#Comment_11279085

Zoins

@DCW said:

@Zoins said:
Do we know who the die sinker was for these?

Does any info from M.L. Marshall’s Variety Store remain other than their tokens?

I have no idea who the die sinker was.
But wouldnt it be cool if M.L. Marshall was somehow an ancestor of the Marshalls chain of stores today?

The die sinking company was Scovill Manufacturing for all of Morgan L. Marshall's tokens.

It would be great if they were the same Marshall, but unfortunately, those are two different Marshalls. The Civil War Token Marshal is Morgan L. Marshall of Oswego while the Marshalls store of today was founded by Alfred Marshall of Massachusetts in 1956. Of note, Alfred Marshall served in the US Navy in WWII after his father abandoned their family during the Great Depression.

Here's some information posted by @Broadstruck in the Stef's thread link from 2015:

@Broadstruck said:
Morgan L. Marshall [...] was the proprietor of a fishing tackle and coin shop located in New York's Finger Lakes region of Lake Ontario whose nickname was “Blunt” born in 1822 in Oneida County. Blunt developed an interest in the outdoors particular fishing and his general store emphasized sports equipment but stocked other dry goods as well. He served as president of the Oswego Horticultural Club. He was important in the Oswego Leather Stocking Club a group that was prominent in the suppression of illegal fishing and the taking of game. His numismatic activities have been recorded but lightly as he was active in an era before any regularly issued publications in the hobby. The advent of the American Journal of Numismatics did not occur until May 1866. All tokens were struck by Scovill Manufacturing Company in Waterbury, Connecticut.

Apparently, his fishing tackle may be as famous as his tokens:

• https://www.oswegocountynewsnow.com/columnists/morgan-l-marshall-remembered-for-fishing-tackle-and-tokens/article_6561d18a-1bd8-11e7-bae7-b3f1c2fa41a8.html

Here's an excerpt. Follow the link for the complete article:

Morgan L. Marshall remembered for fishing tackle and tokens

Occasionally found around Oswego and in the world of numismatics are copper, silver and even wooden tokens issued in the early 1860s by Morgan L. Marshall, proprietor of a popular variety store at 202 W. First St.

Born in Vernon in 1822, he came here from Mexico in 1857. He gained a wide reputation for his high-quality fishing tackles. He was an avid fisherman most of his life.

Creating tokens evolved when government-minted coins became scarce shortly before and during the Civil War. They are very collectible and some of scarcer ones are worth hundreds of dollars in the world of coin collecting.

The Marshall tokens were minted in several varieties of metals and even wood.

His fishing tackles are also equally as prized by collectors.

An avid outdoorsman, Marshall was one of the original members and an officer of the Oswego Leatherstocking Club, founded in 1860, which still exists. At the that time the club was a powerful lobbying group that fought for the suppression of illegal hunting and fishing and game poaching.

During the Civil War, “Blunt” Marshall, as he was nicknamed, was also active in recruiting soldiers for Company A, 48th Regiment, New York Volunteers, raising funds for the cause.

For a generation he was the community’s leading authority on fishing equipment. People frequently consulted him on these matters.

He also served as president of the Oswego County Horticultural Society, was Fourth Ward supervisor, and member of the original Oswego Volunteer Fire Department.

[...]

Zoins

@coinsarefun Just noticed your copper token is from Rev. Dr. James G. K. McClure's collection. That's a great provenance as he had some great tokens!

DCW

@Zoins said:
@coinsarefun Just noticed your copper token is from Rev. Dr. James G. K. McClure's collection. That's a great provenance as he had some great tokens!

Yes. Kind of reminds me of the Zabriskie Collection auctioned by Sotheby's in late 90s in that it sat undisturbed for the better part of a century!
From Heritage press release:
"Certainly Rev. Dr. McClure's collection ranks among the most important time-capsules of U.S. coins ever offered," said Scott Schechter, Vice President of NGC. "We savored this opportunity to learn so much about numismatics in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries."

DCW

Couple of very cool associated items, none of which are mine...yet!
Counterstamped Seated dollar:

Counterstamped bust dime: