I have 3 coins here from 1863 to 1864 1863 "Union Forver" "first in War first in peace" 1863-S "medal for McClellan One Cent" "little Mack" 1864 "Freedom" "The Right man in the right place" Does anyone know where I can find information and possible values of these coins. I am unable to find anything anywhere! I've attached a pdf also for larger viewing Thanks so much for checking this out
Those are civil war tokens, you could find out more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_token http://www.civilwartokens.com/
Good to have you here Dilly. Nice old historic Civil War tokens you have there. The links Warrior posted are good ones and should be of help. Bruce
If you still need help after you check out those sites get back to us Dilly. I have reference books on CWT's and will look them up for you...if I can find them. Bruce
I have collected some pics & books on Gen. George B. McClellan. But never got any tokens. Interesting.
Yes, I have several tokens and found the McClellan one interesting as well. And unfortunately I am unable to find any info on it
That would be great to find out more information on these coins. I am at a loss, the links given to me sends me to a sellers page with pricing information and a Wiki page that's really not what I was looking for. I am looking for why these coins were made. What were the reasons, not only war time era coins, but what was the meaning of that. Thanks so much
Basically Civil War tokens were privately minted to fulfill a need of merchants to make change. During the war regular coins were hoarded, and because of this it was difficult for retailers to conduct their business. There are basically two types of CWT's, patriotic tokens and store cards. Patriotics had a patriotic theme of some sort and were generic in nature, while store cards were issued for a particular business. They would have the name of the business, their address or city, what they sold, and any other information the merchant deemed important. The patriotics were cheaper to buy because they were generic and could be used by anyone. The store cards were pricier because the merchant had to have a special die cut to produce his cards. Although never legal tender, they were widely accepted by people because of the shortage of regular issue coins. I have found my references Dilly, and will get back to you later when I have some information to pass on in regard to your particular tokens. Bruce
Here's what I found in regard to your tokens. The reference of choice for these pieces was issued many years ago by George and Melvin Fuld and is considered the "red book" for CWT's. Your first token(Washington on horseback) is designated 174 / 272a and is made of copper. The first number on all these tokens is always the obverse (front) and the second the reverse or back. This one is given a rarity rating of R-1 or very common(over 5,000 known) The "Little Mack" piece is 140 /394a, also copper and an R-1. The Lincoln token is designated 126 / 295a and is much scarcer than the others. It's also copper, but is an R-5 (75-200 known). The small "S" under the bust of McClellan isn't a mint mark, but the initial of the sinker who cut the die. Although some of the diesinkers of these pieces are known, this one isn't. Those dies with initials or names of the maker included are known as "signed dies". As far as value goes, it's difficult to say. I'm thinking, ballpark, $40 for your R-1's and $100 or so for the Lincoln. These are just guesses on my part because I haven't kept up with valuations since I stopped collecting them several years ago. You may want to check out Steve Hayden's website for more references. He's a big dealer in these pieces. Check him out at www.civileartokens.com Anything else I can help you with, just let me know. Bruce
