A Bear and his Lair...Civil War exonumia.

DCW

(1863) F.R. Behr, Ein Glas Bier. MI-225-I-1a. Detroit, Michigan. PCGS AU53, ex. Q. David Bowers.

This is one of my favorite tokens from the Civil War and a highlight in my Box of 20 collection of American tokens and Medals. An obvious play on words, F.R. Behr had these tokens struck for his establishment in Detroit, Michigan. If the reverse is any indication, there was plenty of bowling and beer at Behr's business. Legend has it that he was a member of Michigan's "minutemen," a militia type group of gentlemen that were tasked with repelling at a moment's notice any invasion from Pro-Confederate forces coming from our northern border. I havent been able to verify that story, but it has my interest.
This token is an incredible rarity in the series of Civil War Storecards. Beloved for the depiction of the dancing bear imbibing with a tall beverage, it is of the same whimsical humor that attracts collectors to the "Good For a Scent" token by Merriam. But it is a lot harder to locate one of these. The handful that are known are all circulated, and this one, while crusty, is one of the finest known. The circle in the middle of the bear is complete, something that has worn off most other specimens that exist.
The die sinker has never been identified, but the initials W.R. are a clue just beneath the bear's dancing paws.
Thanks for looking!

jabba

Interesting story it always bugs me that there are so many wonderful tokens and in a lot of cases no story or minting info thanks for sharing!
David

fastfreddie

Neat Detroit storecard. Love it!

Is the circle a plug as made?

AlexinPA

As always DCW; very nice and very interesting. Thanks.

carabonnair

I love it. And "EIN GLAS BIER" shows that German was a lot more commonly spoken, at least up until the first world war.

Oldhoopster

Excellent CWT. Thanks for sharing

It looks like there is a plug in the center. I'm curious, was the planchet plugged prior to striking, was it repaired, is it related to the rev design, or just an artifact of the photography? (or am I seeing things)

DCW

@Oldhoopster No plug, no repair. I mentioned the circle in my initial post, but perhaps you missed it. It is a part of the design, only visible on high grade examples.

Oldhoopster

@DCW said:
@Oldhoopster No plug, no repair. I mentioned the circle in my initial post, but perhaps you missed it. It is a part of the design, only visible on high grade examples.

Thanks for the reply. My bad. Guess I should read the whole description instead of skimming it.

CWT1863

Very cool! Thanks for sharing!

kaz

What a cool piece! Never seen one before.

Zoins

@DCW said:
@Oldhoopster No plug, no repair. I mentioned the circle in my initial post, but perhaps you missed it. It is a part of the design, only visible on high grade examples.

Do you know what it's supposed to be? Although mentioned in your first post, I didn't see an explanation of what it was.

Namvet69

Man that's a nice store card. Thanks for sharing. Peace Roy

ricko

Very interesting... Most bears on coins are California....and none of those dance or drink beer.... Teetotalers I guess ....Beer and bowling... used to be a major activity when I grew up... still at least one bowling alley left in this area...used to be several - and copious amounts of the golden beverage were consumed. Neat token...Cheers, RickO

calgolddiver

excellent !!!

CoinRaritiesOnline

Neat motif obv and rev!

Zoins

Amazing token @DCW ! I didn't realize how rare or in demand this is. The Cliff Temple NGC XF45 specimen sold for $4,312.50 back in 2012. This is the second rarest Detroit Merchant Civil War Token with an estimated 8 survivors.

Of note, the token says "FR. BEHR" which stands for Frederick Behr.

Here's the Heritage description for the Clifton A. Temple specimen.

• https://coins.ha.com/itm/civil-war-merchants/-1861-65-fr-behr-detroit-mi-f-225i-1a-r8-xf45-ngc/a/1169-5987.s

Undated MI-225I-1a Detroit Token, XF45 NGC
Frederick Behr
Second Rarest Detroit Token

(1861-65) Fr. Behr, Detroit, MI, F-225I-1a, R.8, XF45 NGC. Frederick Behr was the son of Christ and Regina Behr, born in Baden, Germany, and residing with his wife, Mary, in Detroit in 1870. He died in Detroit on November 19, 1879. His death certificate recorded his age as 63 years and 2 months, suggesting that he was born in September 1816.

Behr operated a dining saloon and bowling establishment in Detroit. His business appears in different locations at various times. The 1856 edition of the Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory places Behr at the corner of Russel and Mullett, and the 1863 edition of the same work gives his address as 75 Griswold. David Perkins, a collector of Detroit tokens, found the following notice in a May 1863 issue of the Detroit Free Press: "F. Behr has sold out his business near the Post Office and will open in a new place, 926 Jefferson Avenue, opposite Miller's garden, May 21." The 1875 edition of the Michigan business directory provides another address, "70 Congress e." An 1877 Detroit city directory gives his address on Congress, noting that he operated a "Wine Hall."

Cliff Temple discussed a minor Civil War era incident involving several Detroit merchants in "The Merchant Unionists of Detroit" that appeared in the Spring 1972 issue of the Journal of the Civil War Token Society. It seems that a group of Southern refugees took up residence in Canada during the Civil War with plans to invade Detroit. With few Union troops available, a number of Detroit merchants created a force known as the "Minutemen" to protect the city. More than 1,000 volunteers successfully protected the city from those Southern forces, mostly Confederate intelligence personnel. Frederick Behr was among the merchants involved in the Unionist movement.

The obverse bears the inscription FR : BEHR DETROIT with a standing or dancing bear holding a beer mug. Crude initials W R below likely identify the manufacturer or die sinker. The reverse die has the inscription EIN GLAS BIER and illustrates a bowling pin and ball, suggesting that bowling lanes were part of the business. Perkins estimates that only about eight examples of the Behr token exist today. It is the second rarest merchant in the Detroit series, and ranks among the most important Michigan tokens. Smooth medium olive surfaces with trivial handling marks on each side. A single small corrosion spot is visible at 7:30 on the reverse.

From The Clifton A. Temple Collection.

DCW

@Zoins
Thanks for posting the additional info.
In the myriad of Civil War tokens, I do believe this is one of the most endearing.
An incredible opportunity when this one became available, and I acted quickly.
As always, thanks to all for the comments.