Do you own any Civil War Tokens?

I like Civil War Tokens. They circulated just like money when nobody could lay their hands on any genuine money. Imagine merchants unable to make change... Well that didn't last long and many die sinkers began producing and selling merchant tokens called 'store cards,' and later producing generic tokens which today are called 'patriotic' tokens.

The height of token production came in 1863 and most patriotics bear that date. No Civil War Token was ever struck by the U.S. Mint.

This is patriotic CWT 138/434a (R-1). It is MS-63 RB.

 

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The significance of the George McClellan cannot be lost either, he ran against Lincoln in 1864 - gathering quite a bit of the soldiers votes. He ran on a campaign of ending the Civil War, and letting the south go.

McClellan was a remarkably popular general with his troops, however he was an ineffective commander as far as prosecuting a war and Lincoln fired him twice.

That is a pretty desirable piece because of the association with McClellan.

 

I think CWT's are an awesome area to collect and I'll pick one up now and then, if the price is right. I tried to get the guys to post some back around Lincoln's B-day but no takers so I guess there aren't a lot of CWT collectors here? dd:

Love your McClellan CWT! :thumb:

Ribbit

 

I own a total of one CWT and it's common.
Got it to say I have one but they are most certainly cool.

 

I only have three of them, none imaged, and a disconnected scanner and not enough USB ports on my laptop.

 

Interesting coincidence, I'm reading Burlingame's new Lincoln biography and it really digs into the McClellan thing. Imagine standing up the president so many times! I think I have two of these somewhere.

 

There are not many Lincoln biographies that don't touch the McClellan challenge. There are many many what ifs like, what if McClellan pursued Lee when he could have early in the war, what if McClellan had won the 1864 election etc.

The token above definitively documents that McClellan was a popular character, especially with those that served under him. It maybe difficult to ascertain this today, but those were very trying times and there was a lot of division even in the North.

 

I have a 1860 Dime Au-55 PCGS in my safety depot box & 1961 a re strike of the confederate cent

 

Hi, Larry

Just one. Maybe you remember it?
Your friend Bob.

 

It's nice to know we have several history buffs here. I was going to point out the fact that McClellan was a very ineffective general who was fired twice by Lincoln and who ran for President against Lincoln in 1864. But others beat me to it.

That's a super nice CWT you have. I wish I had one that nice. Congrats.

 

1864 Store Card

Dug this up with my metal detector in southern Michigan a few years ago

 

That is a great find with your metal detector, Gallienus. You should start your own thread for that token. I would not recommend cleaning it any more than you have.

I found one of them for sale: here.

 

I was lucky enough to receive 2 in my last wholesale buy package...I think that brings me up to about 5 or 6 now. I love'em.

 

Here's one that I own & love very much. Larry, you saw this one before.

 

I really like the designs of the CWTs and am considering collecting these also. I dont own any but give me time and I will.

 

Yes, I remember seeing that one, Becky. It's 189/399a (R-1) and the die sinker was the Scovill Mfg. Co. of Waterbury CT. Seems like you also showed us seller's photos while it was in the mail, or at least told us about it. That must've been a year ago or more. When I came to the board a few years back, you responded to one of my first posts, and many since then. : )

All in all, yours is a very distinctive patriotic CWT...

The obverse is popular and patriotic, with "Union" and lances and draped flags, rays and a horseshoe-shaped group of stars near the rim.

On its reverse, I like the way the five-pointed star appears inside the four woven bands of the six-pointed star.

I'm glad I've helped others develop an interest in these tokens that proved necessary to the U.S. economy during the war. It's a very special area of collecting, especially for those liking history and a wide variety of designs and pairings. There are even more varieties of store cards than patriotics.

I'm glad folks here have shown an interest. I suspected that many on CoinTalk had some CWT's.

 

Curiously in my community, there was only one 19th century token issuer, no less a CWT issuer in 1863. Up until about 1905 that was the only token issued here, and then the proliferation began. I have all the local tokens but that CWT so far, but I look for it still. This area was a small logging and milling town in 1863, and the CWT issuer was a merchant in town.

 

Grading CWT's

Here are my two CWT's of the same variety as Becky's. Though rated R-1 these are scarcer than many more common varieties. These are popular Civil War Tokens, but are offered for sale less frequently than many other R-1's. I watched ebay's auctions for about a year before seeing any token of this variety for sale.

 

Some great CWT shown in this thread.

I have a small collection of CWT, mostly patriotic. Here is one I haven't posted on CT before, 'Industry' I believe it is a 188/384a, rarity R3 (though I do not have the catalog to check). I like it because it has an unusual obverse theme.

In general I think CWTs and HTTs are some of the most interesting sources about the political and economic trials of the 1800's that we can view and own today.

 

I have some that say,"Millions for defense - Not one cent for tribute". I also have one that sarcastically says,"Millions for contractors - Not one cent for widows"!