Help with Civil War and Hard Times Tokens, please!

1jester

Please tell me what these tokens are, how many were minted, and what they might be worth. Thanks!

BigE

Those are pretty cool jester, the last one is a store card, and I believe there was a write up on one similar to the fourth in a very recent issue of Coin World. ------------------BigE

1jester

Thanks, Big E! I know nothing about tokens, but I think they are cool too.

I think CU should have a separate forum for tokens, medals, etc.

Gemini

Big E is right the last token is a storecard variety it is an R-3 which means there are between 500 to 2000 pieces estimated to be in existance.

The rest of your tokens are of the Patriotic variety and most of them appear to be of the R-1 variety which are very common with more than 5000 pieces estimated in existance.

E-bay has quite a few listed for sale and you can get a feel for the pricing there. They would probably sell in the $15.00 range in XF condition.

If you really get into these go to the Civil War Token Society website dues is only ten dollars a year and you can find some great books there to help you identify the many die varieties.

I agree with you also that we should have our own forum on these...

1jester

Thanks a bunch, Gemini!

1jester

Are "storecards" generally more valuable than "patriotic" themes?

1jester

ttt

Cam40

Are "storecards" generally more valuable than "patriotic" themes
I can answer ..I can name that tune in ...two notes Bob.
R
3

TA DAHHH!!

Gilbert

I could be wrong, but the "patriotic themes", and in particular, number 2 and 4 look like civil war tokens. But all could be CWT, and are thus defined in the Redbook:

CWT are generally divided into two groups: tradesmen's tokens and anonymously issued pieces with political or patriotic themes. They came about only because of the scarcuity of government coins and disappeared as soon as the bronze coins of 1864 met public demand for small copper change.

Tradesmen's tokens were issued to provide change and advertise wares. The second type was imply unauthorized substitutes for government coins.

An est 50,000,000 or more were issued with approx 10,000 varieties. A law was passed 4/22/1864 prohibiting issue of two centers, tokens or devices for use as money and on 6/8 a law abolished private coinage of every kind.

BillJones

Hi 1jester!

There is no way to generalize whether store cards are more valuable than patriotic CWTs. Each one works on a case by case basis. I will say that I have sold more very high priced store cards (for tokens, over $1,000) than I have patriotic tokens. The reason is that advanced collectors tend to gravitate toward specific areas in the store card market, and they are willing to pay higher prices for the pieces that are realy hard to find.

1jester

Thanks for the info, Bill, Gilbert, and cam!!