Bought my first Civil War Tokens......

dougdann

HI,
I haven't bought anything in 2 1/2 years except ancients.
Went by the coin shop yesterday, looked around and saw these 2 coins:
1863 PRO BONO PUBLICO New York

1863 Liberty - Union

Really caught my attention.
I like the Civil War era. Learning the history and all. Went to Fort Sumter last year. It was really amazing to stand there and try to imagine whta the soldiers went through.

Any way, not to get to side tracked. I think I might start collecting these.

Any hints on what publications or books are good to start knowing more about what is out there on these types of tokens. Or maybe even coins of that time.


Thanks,

Doug

nwcs

I do not collect the tokens, though I have one. I do know of one reference: Standard Catalog of US Tokens, 1700-1900 by Russell Rulau

dougdann

Hi,
I will look it up.
I do have one book by him called'Hard time Tokens". But it only covers 1832-1844.

Thanks,

Doug

DIMEMAN

Civil War tokens are neat, and there are a lot of them. I've seen a book on them, but don't have one. They are interesting coins as well as colonial coins, but I'm stretched too far now to start new areas of collecting.

Jon

dougdann

Actually I wont be able to get too deep into it.
99.9% of my collecting budget goes to ancients.
But I'll pick up a token here and there.
The colonials do look interesting. Seen a few pics of colonials in boks at the book store.A few of those will be nice. Just have to decide which ones.
HHHMmmmmm. So many coins. So little money. I think someone else said that.


Doug

michael

utterly fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! one of the best posts threads i have ever seen on these forums!!!!!!!!!!!! a true collector and not with the hype and spectulation most of the time on here

yes get the rulau book on civil war tokens but if you buy the book and read it you will get hooked and then you will go crazy trying to deside either ancients or civil war tokens!

sincerely michael

stujoe

I don't think it is updated much (their Article of the Month is from 2000) but here is the site of the Civil War Token Society

Links 'R Us

There is some infor and articles on the site, though and a listing of some books.

I don't collect Civil War Tokens but I think they are very cool. Usually, people either concentrate on Patriotics or Store Cards, it seems. I kind of favor the Patriotics.

Here is the only one I own:

http://thestujoecollection.com/grade/102602grade.htm

I picked it up at a show a month or two ago. It is one of my favorite pieces.

Veep

The Rulau book covers all sorts of tokens and is a nice reference. If you really want to get into Civil War tokens, there are three books I'd recommend: The first two are by a father and son, George and Melvin Fuld. One is on Patriotics (about $20) and the other on Storecards(about ($85-100). The third is a recent publication by Byron Kanzinger which is a decent source of "ballpark" prices. I think that I paid about $20 for that one too.

You can join the Civil War Token Society for $10 per year, get a quarterly newsletter, mail bid information and discounts on the above books.

shylock

Doug - I spent almost an hour today looking through all the Civil War tokens Eagle Eye Rare Coins added to their site. Rick Snow's new associate, Bret Palser, specializes in these and it looks like they'll be a permanent part of their inventory. Found many of them fascinating, like

the Shoot Him On The Spoot error
the Horrors Of War
this Flying Eagle type
this one featuring Gen. Burnside
and the Indian Head with Flags and Cannons.

An example of your new PRO BONO PUBLICO New York token is also listed there.

Veep

Shylock,

Thanks for the heads-up on the Eagle Eye site. They have some nice stuff to be sure. I expect to visit often.

IndianHeadMan

I need a pic of this Pro Bono Publico token!!!!

never mind

Steve27

Is this what the liberty-Union token looks like?

Gemini

A great series to collect and if you join the Civil War Token Society for $10.00 a year you will receive the "Copperhead Courrier" and be entitled to discounts on books.

All of the Copperhead Courrier has been reprinted into sets of hard cover books (4) at the present time with another due out soon that contain many interesting articles on Civil War tokens and a trove of valuable research by the societies members that can't be found anywhere else.

They also have their own printed book available on Patriotic tokens with die charts to identify the many different die varieties found in this series.

Don-Gemini

dougdann

<< <i>Is this what the liberty-Union token looks like? >>



That's it. Except it has a darker tone.

Thanks for the links and the hint in the Civil War Society. I like the history, the coins add a lot to it.
That's what made me dive head first into ancients. It brings it to life and gives a visual.
Maybe I'll find a specific collecting area within the tokens.


Doug

Bulldog

Stop it you guys and Gals. I can't start yet another collection. Had I been born in the early 1800's, Look at how few coins I could have saved. Am I lucky or what to be around in this century.

Bulldog

dougdann

I have jars of unclean ancients sitting on my desk.
I also said I couldn't start another collection. Yeah! Right.

Doug