Question for Hard Times and/or Civil War Token Collectors
MWallace
Posts: 4,223 ✭✭✭✭✭
I know there will be as many different answers as people who respond. That's what I want, then I'll have a choice. If I wanted to add one mint state HT and one mint state CW token to my collection for <$250 each, which one would you recommend? Pictures will help.
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For HTT's I'd recommend one of the 1837 Illustrious Predecessor varieties as the Donkey (Ass) and Turtle pictorial is very popular being the token most HTT collectors tend to purchase first. A UNC at your budget might take a bit to find and will be cheaper raw, but you could land a nice AU58 slabbed or raw for 1/2 your budget.
Just a goggle pic of one of my examples.
AU58 is good for me too. Thank you.
If I'm not mistaken there is a reprint in paperback of the Lyman Low book on HTT. I bought one years ago off a bid board for about $10.
I'm sure you can find a copy.
If possible, I would suggest that you get two Civil Wat tokens to represent the series---a patriotic token and a merchant token.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Good suggestion.
For CWTs, at that price level, I'd go with something common, but popular.
Patriotics: The Flag of Our Union tokens are nice and feature the error "If anyone tries to tear it down, shoot him on the SPOOT."
For storecards, you can also get one of the M.L. Marshall Toys, Fancy Goods, Fishing Tackle, and Rare Coins tokens with the fish on it in low Unc at a reasonable price. Extremely popular
Here is mine, in PCGS MS66
:
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
I am familiar with and would like a "Shoot Him On The Spoot". Thank you for the suggestions. I did get this from you and am still in love with it.
That's a great piece. I love how each Indian looks the opposite direction of the other.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
I love these suggestions. I have been collecting (or maybe hoarding) a variety of the Flag Of Our Union / DIX tokens for years, the one with the undated obverse and massively reworked reverse die (I think the die pairing is 212/416). There are many stages where the obverse die grows several die cracks as the repunching on the reverse gets more visible.
Since I know the OP is an incomplete planchet aficionado like me, there are a lot of clips out there on both merchant and patriotic CWTs. I am partial to Indiana Primitives, which feature copies of popular patriotic tokens on the obverse and crude slogans on the reverse, and which often come on clipped planchets.
Sean Reynolds
"Keep in mind that most of what passes as numismatic information is no more than tested opinion at best, and marketing blather at worst. However, I try to choose my words carefully, since I know that you guys are always watching." - Joe O'Connor
There are no truly Mint State Hard Times tokens that sell for less than $250. It might say "Mint State" on the holder, but it won't be.
This is probably the most common political Hard Times, but it's also one of the most historic. The jackass with the "LLD" on the belly on the reverse of this piece refers to the honorary Doctor of Laws degree that Harvard gave to Andrew Jackson. John Quincy Adams, who got his degree there, was outraged. Historian, Samuel Elliot Morrison, claimed that the Democratic Party donkey came from this piece. At any rate you can get a nice one for less than $250, way less if it's only an EF. This piece is listed as a Low #70.
The Civil War token is a lot tougher because there are so many of them. I guess I would go for a Lincoln piece.
Fuld number 127/248a is by far the most common Lincoln Civil War token. It is the most common piece that was issued during his lifetime. I bought this one for $10 30 years ago. I was shocked when I say that it is going for $125 to just under $200 on the Internet.
You can get many more interesting Civil War tokens for under $250 if you could lower the grade to AU.
The reason that I looked up the current prices for the 127/248a token is that I will be giving a presentation about Lincoln at the next Winter FUN show. It will be at 1:30, on Friday, January 7 in room 320E.
I agree with Bill that a real uncirculated HTT with no issues might be a hard get at less than $250.
As to CWTs I've always liked the Monitor pieces. They look cool and can be had a relatively reasonable numbers.
RIP Mom- 1932-2012
Yes, a Monitor piece would be an interesting choice, but they are common, given the price they bring.
I concur with with what many others have said. When I look at my CWT, the ones I think are most representative is one of these three:
Little monitor
Flag of our Union
Lincoln
My experience is Flag, Monitor , Lincoln from a cheapest to expensive
The two HT tokens shown are also what I would recommend. I had both of those when I was collecting various types of tokens.