Hi All, Here is my fourth of four postings for today. An 1863 CWT with a "beehive" on it. I have no idea what it's worth - any ideas? Thanks!
The Fuld die variety numbers on this piece are 188/384 a. That's the beehive side / "Not One Cent" side in copper. It is rated as an R-3 which is slightly scarcer than average. Unfortunately it's fairly low grade, VG. Civil War Tokens only circulated for a couple years. Most of them are Choice VF or better. Many are EF to AU. As such this would only be worth $10 or so retail.
Your Civil War patriotic token is a Fuld #188/384a and is a R-3. I have the same token graded as MS-64 BN for which I paid $195 back in June of 2021. I would guess that yours would be priced somewhere between $50 and $100, but I am sure that there other folks here on the site that might have a better fix on price. The title of the thread got my attention as I have a sub-suite of Civil War and Conder tokens that depict bees and beehives. Including reverse die variations I count 25 possible CW beehive tokens and 55 Conder beehive tokens. Combined I currently have 26 beehive tokens and one ancient bee from Ionia. Edit note: I had the wrong Fuld number. I called it a 188/385a a number that does not exist. JM is correct it is a Fuld 188/384a. I blame my recent eye surgery for the typo.I was alo overly optimistic on the price.
@Tall Paul, there is big difference in price for the CWTs between MS-64 and well worn. The trouble is most collectors would be willing to pay $20 or $30 more for a better piece in Ch VF or EF.
John, I bow to your years of accumulated knowledge and wisdom. I always learn something new every time you post.
I used to deal in these piece 15 years ago. Prices have gone up a lot since I retired, but I think that condition issues still apply. Pieces that I used to sell for $10 to $20 now sell for $50 to $60.
You might go to eBay and look for similar pieces. Check out the sold listings. A lot of circulated pieces sell for $25 - $100. Not much help I know. I do think I have seen these pieces before, most likely fairly common.
