My father gave me two copper tokens from the Civil War era. One is a "not one cent" and the other is a store token from a wine dealer in NYC. I've never really collected these, but they have me interested. I saw a picture of a token in a magazine article recently. It had a picture of a slave in chains. Being a Civil War buff, that *REALLY* sparked my interest. So, does anyone know where I can find tokens with slaves depicted?
Lots of links you can peruse here Exonumia.com/links civilwartokens.com cwtsociety.com Does anyone here collect Hard Times or Civil War tokens -- A CT thread
"Am I not a Woman and a Sister?" and "Am I not a Man and a Brother" are technically "Hard Times Tokens" of the Jacksonian Era 1830s and 1840s, minted by Abolitionists. The Civil War was not fought to free the slaves; the abolitionist cause was pushed into the background; and the themes of actual Civil War Tokens validate that. You can see the "Sister" token here, on Alan Scott Fisher's excellent website http://www.hardtimestokens.com/AmINotAWomen.aspx The "Brother" is not actually a trade token, but a medallion. The image itself is from an Abolitionist paper ("broadside") and was later put into coin forms. The "Sister" -- obviously a reflection of that -- is the true Hard Times Token. No true Civil War Tokens like these with those images exist. Any such are modern fantasies. Steve Hayden is a well-respected dealer. His Civil War Tokens pages are nice reference material for buys and sells. Only exceptional sales items are shown, so you have to know your Fuld Numbers and know the tokens to actually be a practiced buyer there. Simple research is not always fruitful. The Civil War Token Society is an excellent resource. If you have a serious interest you should join. Before you spend (waste) money on the tokens, you need the standard references. I mentioned "Fuld Numbers." The CWTS sells the most recent editions at a good price. No other compendium has been as respected these past 50 (fifty) years. If you are an ANA member you can borrow this monograph, reprinted from The Numismatist. (Yet another reason to join the ANA.) Author: Fuld, George. Title Statement: Antislavery tokens. * Description: 14p. ill. 23cm. General Note: Reprinted from The Numismatist, April, 1957. Subject: U.S.--TOKENS Title Added Entry: Fuld, Melvin. Call Number: PA75.F8a Copy 1: Available for Circulation Copy 2: Available for Circulation Copy 4: Available for Circulation
Thank you for the token / medal information. However, I would argue the above point vehmently. Southerners have been trying to re-write this piece of history for most of the 20th century (and all of the 21st thus far), but saying it isn't so doesn't make it not so. Each of the states that seceeded from the Union wrote an "Article of Secession," which was essentially a state's Declaration of Independence. *ALL* of them listed slavery or their "freedom" to choose to be a slave state as one of several causes for their choice to seceed. Several listed it as their primary reason. I will concede that if one is splitting semantic hairs, the wording of your quote makes it technically true. The North did not fight to free slaves - they fought to prevent the South from seceeding. The South -- by their own admission in every state's case -- fought for the "right" to own slaves because they perceived Lincoln's administration was going to abolish the institution. Many have argued they were fighting for states' rights, which is also true -- they were fighitng for their states' right to own people! So I suppose one could say with accuracy the war wasn't fought to free slaves. It WAS, however, fought over the institution of slavery. Btw, I am a published author and have a degree on the topic
The Hard times "Am I not a Woman and a Sister" token is based on a 1795 English token with the same message. It used the "Am I Not a Man and a Brother" legend. The English token comes in several varieties and with a variety of edges. It also come in both half penny and Farthing denominations.
Regardless of our politics, this is a coins forum and the fact is that they are not Civil War tokens. They are Hard Times Tokens circa 1838.
