Need Further Info on 1863 Civil War Store Card from Ohio

Jmacd013 · June 13, 2018 9:09AM

I recently purchased an 1863 Civil War Store Card reflecting A.C. Cochran above and Cambridge, O below a padlock on one side and the F-1178 (eagle) die on the reverse with 1863 below it. The Standard's Catalog I have is outdated and it appears there are multiple varieties for the obverse die. Does anyone have a book or anything that would help narrow down the exact reference number for this coin? I'm also looking for rarity and opinions on grade and value.

Here are the varieties I've seen listed:

F-115-3a
F-115-4a
F-115-5a
F-115-6a
F-115-7a
F-115-8a
F-115-91

CWT1863 · June 13, 2018 9:30AM

I attributed it as OH 115 A-4a which is a Rarity 7 (11 to 20 known).

Jmacd013 · June 13, 2018 9:35AM

Thanks. Can you tell me what the last two digits stand for? I understand the 115 is the location code and the small a is for copper, but what determines its a 4?

Also, any thoughts on value?

Thanks again!

Insider2 · June 13, 2018 9:38AM

What determines its a 4? The reverse die.

Edit: I just pulled may "agree" from above. CWT1863 is the expert but I'm leaning that this may be OH 115A-3a. Checking now.

Edit: Nope, put my agree back. 4a. The stem is over the "1" on die 3.

BillJones · June 13, 2018 9:46AM

@Jmacd013 said:
Thanks. Can you tell me what the last two digits stand for? I understand the 115 is the location code and the small a is for copper, but what determines its a 4?

Also, any thoughts on value?

Thanks again!

The "4" is the number of the reverse die combination. All of this merchant's tokens share a common obverse which included the lock image, his name and the town in which he was located. That obverse was married to 9 other reverses, and the one you have happens to have gotten the #4 attributed to it. The number of the reverse die in the reference books is 1180.

An R-7 is a rare variety, but your piece is very low grade for a Civil War token. Most Civil War grade at least VF because they did not circulate for that long in most areas of the country. Varieties 2 and 3 had a similar eagle on the reverse. As such I don't think that your token is worth a lot of money unless you can find the right buyer who REALLY wants one. Given the grade it would be close to a filler for an advance Ohio CWT collector.

DIMEMAN · June 13, 2018 9:52AM

Neat CWT.

CWT1863 · June 13, 2018 10:00AM

The A stands for the merchant in that city. The A means it is the first merchant listed in the 3rd edition Civil War Token book under Cambridge, Ohio. The 4 is the die variety that is listed in the book for that merchant. When I was attributing it, I narrowed it down to either reverse die 1178, 1179, or 1180. From there there are small differences between the dies. For this token, if the 3 in the date has a flat top it would be either 1178 or 1179. The token has a lot of wear on the reverse but I am pretty sure the 3 has a rounded top so it would be 1179. I am not sure on the value. I hope this helps.

Jmacd013 · June 13, 2018 10:09AM

I'm still learning so thank you for explaining it. I took a chance in buying it and estimated the value based one its rarity to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $40-50. I hope I wasn't too far off.

I ordered a copy of the Civil War Storecards 3rd Edition a few days ago. Hopefully it arrives soon.

Thanks again!

BillJones · June 13, 2018 10:13AM

The new CWT store card book is quite good. I think you will enjoy it. The new Patriotic book is good too. It's a wonderful source for Civil War History buffs.

BillJones · June 13, 2018 10:40AM

@Jmacd013 said:
I'm still learning so thank you for explaining it. I took a chance in buying it and estimated the value based one its rarity to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $40-50. I hope I wasn't too far off.

I ordered a copy of the Civil War Storecards 3rd Edition a few days ago. Hopefully it arrives soon.

Thanks again!

I have been out of the Civil War token dealing game for quite a while so my exact pricing skills are rusty, but here are some guidelines concerning high rarities.

A lot of collectors try to get a token from each state. Some get down to trying get one from each town.
If there is only one token for a state, and it is rare, it will be worth a lot of money. For example, there is only Kansas merchant and his tokens are rare. Therefore, that token is worth a lot of money … well into the five figures if it is nice.
If there is only one merchant for a given town, that is known as a single merchant town. That increases the value of the token to a level higher than other tokens with the same rarity would bring. If that merchant’s token is rare, it will bring premium but not as a single merchant state will bring.
If the token has a distinct design that a lot of collectors like, it will bring a premium in general. If it is scarce or rare to boot, it can bring a lot of money in high grade. An example is the “Good for Scent” token varieties with the picture of a dog on them.
If the token is one rare variety with a group of tokens that were issued for a merchant, who generally is not that hard to find, it has limited potential for a high price. There are specialist Ohio collectors who want one of everything, and that would be the target customer for the piece you bought. It’s not always easy to find that customer.
Most any merchant token with Abraham Lincoln on it is rare and brings good prices, at least into the hundreds of dollars.

I hope that these guidelines will help you in the future. The book will give you a rarity estimate for your token, but it does not provide prices.

PennyGuy · June 13, 2018 7:44PM

If the OP is really interested in selling his token I would recommend joining the Civil War Token Society. Not only would be be able to buy the reference books at a discount the Society’s publication is first rate. There is a Token Auction conducted that would put his token in front of all Members, and would be a great way to find that specialized Ohio token collector.

Need Further Info on 1863 Civil War Store Card from Ohio

Comments

Leave a Comment