Thread: Mystery coin

Can anyone tell me what this coin is? It's the same size asnd color as an indian head cent.

to CoinTalk olson.

What you have is an interesting token, not a coin. We have members who may be able to tell you more about it, but my guess is that it's a game counter, probably made during or shortly after the Civil War.

The piece pictured is a Civil War Token.
Made during the Civil War (US, of course) by merchants to help with the extreme coin shortage, they are highly collectible. During the Civil War all federal coinage was hoarded, including the lowly cent.
There are numerous reference book on the topic, but I (personally) find that researching them is exhausting and difficult.

I agree it's a Civil War token, and, because of the Pyrgian freedom cap hanging on a pole, it was a merchant located in the Confederacy who had it made.

Clinker

Hello Olson and welcome to Coin Talk. What you have is a Patriotic Civil War token. The dies used to make this token are #82 (the Indian head side) and #351 (with the cannons, drums, flags). It is hard to be sure of the metal used for this token, as the obverse seems lighter than usual (possibly indicating copper-nickel?), while the reverse suggests that brass may be a possibility. All three metals were used with that die combo, but only the copper variety is common. Assuming that is what you have, the id number would be 82/351a, with the "a" being the designating letter for copper. The copper variety has an R-1 rarity rating, which means it is very common with over 5000 known to exist. Values range from $12 in F/VF to $15 in XF and $20 in UNC.

The dies used to produce this token are ascribed to the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut (which is still in business). They struck both Civil War store card and patriotic tokens for merchants throughout the Eastern states and as far west as Ohio. These generic patriotic tokens generally cost the merchant about 1/3 cent each, so were quite profitable for merchant to use.

Hope that helps, and let us know if you think you may have a copper-nickel or brass variety.

cw:
Wow, thanks for the info.
Now I have to post some of mine.

Originally Posted by Clinker

I agree it's a Civil War token, and, because of the Pyrgian freedom cap hanging on a pole, it was a merchant located in the Confederacy who had it made.

Clinker

In other words,this is the closest thing to a circulating coin that the Confederate States of America ever had.It is a very interesting token,nonetheless.

Aidan.

Originally Posted by Aidan Work

In other words,this is the closest thing to a circulating coin that the Confederate States of America ever had.It is a very interesting token,nonetheless.

Aidan.

This token would have primarily circulated in the North. Certainly possible for some of them to have reached the South, but they would have been a small percentage. Post 5 indicates the distribution area(s) that Scovill covered.

Treashunt, post away

Welcome to the forum Olson