Civil War Storecard Tokens

Im interested in collecting some civil war storecard tokens but I honestly hard no idea where to start. I know it gets really complicated with rarity and stuff. Can someone help me get started? Thanks

 

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Not complicated at all. Rarity for most CWT's doesn't mean anything, at least as far as cost. I have pieces with 3-4 known worth $40 on a good day and some with thousands known worth hundreds in crumby condition. I just browse Ebay and coin shows and pick out ones I personally find interesting.

 

A great series to collect silverdrachm. A lot of people collect by state or city or sometimes by the type of business...shoemaker, dry goods, etc. I was always partial to store cards over patriotics. Coleguy gives good advice...browse eBay for awhile and see what appeals to you...and your wallet. Have fun!

Bruce

 

Like any collecting pursuit a little knowledge can save you a lot. Visit http://cwtsociety.com and take a look at some of the token reference books. You can also read the short intro to token collecting in the Red Book.

Use your favorite search engine and you can find a number of sites that discuss your questions. There are many ways to approach CWT collection, so you need to give it some thought. Are you interested in any specific geographic area or region, or civil war history figures? These type of questions can help you focus your purchases.

 

I was going to past an Amazon link to Bowers Civil war book but it looks like it sold out already. You might want to send Whitman an email and find out if they're planning a 2nd printing.

 

A second edition is being worked on. Also the Civil War Token Society will be releasing the third edition of the CWT store card book hopefully later this year. I'd recommend anyone hold off on buying a used copy of the second edition and wait for the new one.

 

I collect them from the area where I live. I also got one that was dug up back in 2012 in a church garden, is an R-7. From the looks of the piece it was probably lost not long after it was made. So it had been sitting there since the Civil War. Curiously the thing was dug up on the 4th of July by a church member that was working in their garden. The church didn't want it, so I bought it.

 

Thanks for the advice! Ive been just searching ebay recently to get a feel for them.

 

Two of the best sellers are Steve Hayden , and CWTGuy . on ebay , though I'm not sure of how the latter uses Capitol letters in his names spelling . Someone may correct me . I started just buying what I liked on ebay but now use the auctions . I'm more into Patriotics , but I love some of the store cards too . Especially if they have a Patriotic on the reverse .

 

How can you know if something is a R10 or an R1. Obviously I know that R10 is much rarer because there are a lot less known examples but how could you find out what number it is? Ive also seen other letter such as NY-630BO and i have no idea what those mean.

 

Do you guys recommend purchasing "A Guide Book of Civil War Tokens" by Q. David Bowers?

 

The same scenario for me. I was disappointed with the CSNS this week. I found only one dealer who had CWT's and the Central States had many programs throughout Friday, about the Civil War. What were the dealers thinking? This was a great opportunity to sell Civil War exonumia. I guess they were more interested in the bigger sales that many of the coins bring. Lets see if they (The dealers) respond to the ANA show this summer. I joined the CWTS and we have our annual meeting during the convention.

 

It's in both Fuld books , and in Rulaus book on tokens from ???? to 1900 . The letters with #s are for the store cards . NY is for the state in which the seller is from with the town of issue is given a # , in this case 630 .

It's a good start , but I'd recommend the Fuld books on Patriotics and Store cards . Also I'd recommend joining the CWTS as the dues are only $15 and you'll save that much if you buy the books .

 

I would say that an essential book would be Kanzinger's "The Civil War Token Collector's Guide". While its listed values are now out of date (Copyright 2001), they are still good for a low ballpark number. I haven't picked up Bower's book yet, so if there are values there, it is likely a better source regarding prices. Kanzinger also lists many types of themes (nearly 60 general and over 400 specific), and the tokens related to those themes. So if you only, say, wanted to collect store cards advertising boots and shoes, Kanzinger's lists the 75 cwts related to that topic. Rarities are also listed for each token, some of which have been updated from Fuld's 2nd edition, however, Kanzinger's can not be used to determine an id number as other references are needed for that. There is additional good information also.

To reply to silverdrachm's questions, most cwt reference books will list the rarity number along with the id number. Those are generally consistent, but sometimes they will be updated if the population is known to be incorrect. Unless you have found an unlisted variety (I have about 2 dozen), rarity rating are easily found. Cwt references also typically show a chart for what the various rarity numbers indicate. These numbers range from R1 (over 5000 known) to R10 (1 known). If I recall correctly, somewhere near 70% of cwt varieties have populations of 20 or less known.

The id numbers, such as the one you mentioned (NY-630BO) is for a store card, and provides merchant and location information regarding the issuer. Patriotic cwts use a different type of numbering system, designated by two numbers representing the two die id numbers used to make the token, plus a lower case letter to designate the metal. For the store card series, the first two Upper case letters indicate the state where the merchant was located. The numbers likewise designate the city, in this case 630 indicates New York City. The following upper case letter(s) designate the merchant. In general, merchants within a city are put in alphabetical order, then assigned a letter(s), starting with "A", and going down the list. In this case, BO indicates EDWD SCHULTZE'S. To be a complete id number, there needs to be another number, a lower case letter, and sometimes yet another number. The number following the merchant id letters are designating the dies used to make that particular token. This time the known dies used by that merchant are arranged numerically, with 1 being assigned to the first die, 2 to the 2nd, and so on. The following lower case letter is the metal designation, same as used in the Patriotic numbering system. The final number, when it is used, is to designate varieties, such as in planchet size, when the same dies are used on multiple planchet sizes.

I hope you will find this post useful, and feel free to ask if you have any additional questions.

 

I forgot to mention, learn to attribute id numbers for cwts on your own, as there are many incorrect id numbers assigned to cwts out there. Even the tpgs make errors, with a few id numbers I have yet to see them make a correct attribution. Rulau's book is not a good reference for cwts, and he says so in the beginning of that section (there are just too many varieties), and he lists only one, the most common token id per merchant.

 

Steve Hayden does sell on eBay, cannot immediately remember his username and I don't use eBay anyway. But he also has his own website and sends out email updates because I subscribe to them.

http://www.civilwartokens.com/

 

Wow this helps a lot. Thank you. Its still a lot to take in but im learning.

 

I just purchased Bowers book in ebook form.

 

It's a good start to show you what's out there , there's good pics . I'm sure you'll like it .

 

So far Ive enjoyed it. Its really helping me with values and rarity and also correctly labeling them.