1861 Union Token

I have bought a few things on eBay recently that are a little out of my norm. This piece looked really sharp and it was one of those coins I just had to get. I am an impulsive buyer so I'm not too sure if I could have done better on price or not. Regardless, I love it.

Please tell me what you think and what the value might be.

Thanks and enjoy...

Have a Happy & Safe Holiday.

Darryl

 

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Darryl,that's a very nice token you have got there.It is very historic.

Aidan.

 

Thank You Aiden,

It seems well stuck and the subject matter is right up my ally. I don't know if its common but the token is struck about 90 degrees counter-clockwise rotation obverse to reverse. Alignment probably wasn't a huge concern back then.

Regards,

Darryl

 

Darryl,cwtokenman would be more than interested in looking at this piece,as he has a catalogue of these.I can guess that there was a coin shortage due to the Civil War,so the tokens filled a need for small change,especially for the 1c. coins.In my view,these are a type of coin,albeit,an unofficial emergency coin,nonetheless.

Aidan.

 

Thanks, I am anxious to see what he says.

 

Nice addition Darryl, I like that one quite a lot I have a Army/Navy one but not a Navy solo so that is something to look out for LOL

 

Thank You De Orc,

This is the second of the two we talked about the other day. I really like some of these old civil war tokens and I think I got a fair deal on this. The other coin is really nice in person even though it's a bit shocking. She is going to love it (IMO - at least I hope...) when she grows up.

Have a great weekend!

 

Here is a picture with the actual rotation. I guess it's about 125 degrees counter-clockwise.

 

Now that realy shows the rotation, I sometimes have problems visulising it LOL Oh she will love it, believe me

 

I hope so... I hope it will make her think of me when I'm gone (not that we should have to worry about that for a very long time - I hope...)

 

It appears to be die pair 336/350.
It's one of the most common Patriotics.

Not sure of the value, but something between $10, and $20 is probably close.

Nice example.

 

Darryl,that makes it even more interesting - as an error coin,that is!

Aidan.

 

Thanks Jody...

 

Darryl
Very nice CWT.

 

Thanks Frank - I was very happy to get it. :smile

 

Hello Darryl, Nice Civil War token. My apologies for the delay in responding to your inquiry. I think that Jody must have made a typo as the die pairing of 336/350 is not a listed variety. This token is 337/350a (the berry above the "O" is out of position for die 336). this is an R2 rarity token (common, with 2001-5000 known). Values list at $15 in F/VF, $18 in XF, and $25 in UNC. Prices are from a 2002 reference, and for the past year or so selling prices have been higher than list on ebay.

If you like nautical themed cwts, you could create quite a collection. There are 6 monitor dies (47 varieties), 2 sailing ship dies (12 varieties), 3 anchor dies (28 varieties), 36 Army & Navy dies (131 varieties), and 3 Our Navy dies (55 varieties). Of course, some of those are overlapping, so the actual total would be somewhat less than the sum of the parts.

 

WOW, Sounds like another book I need to get. I will have to keep my eyes peeled as these show up at shows and on ebay - First the book though -

Which is the best and most current? Meanwhile, I will google it and see what comes up.

I did OK on the token price wise - paid $20 for it so that is probably not to out of line with what they are going for in the market. A small price to pay for a attractive piece of history...

Thank you for the feedback and very helpful information.

Darryl

 

Or a couple of books, lol. All of the above die info that I mentioned was for Patriotic Civil War tokens. The reference book for that is Patriotic Civil War Tokens by George and Melvin Fuld. There is a fairly recent edition out, but I suspect an older edition may suit you just fine, and be less expensive. This book runs in the $35-40 price range.

There are a few nautical related store card dies, but not all that many - 3 with anchors, and one sailing ship. I do not know how many times these dies were used, but only two of them come up for sale on ebay with any regularity. Just in case you like to buy books, this one is U.S. Civil War Store Cards, also by the Fulds. For nautical only use, I would not spend the money for this book, but if you get bitten by the Civil War token bug, then it becomes a necessity. This book generally goes for about $50-$75 on ebay.

The above books are mostly for identification (don't buy the small, black softbacks by the Fulds) and the Patriotic book has considerable background info as well. For pricing, Bryon Kanzinger's The Civil War Token Collectors Guide (2002) is about the only choice. It was fairly accurate when published and for several years after, but recently prices have been rising above those listed. I highly reccomend this book though if you are planning on making many cwt purchases.

 

Thank you very much for the help and advice!

Best Regards,

Darryl

 

Forgot to mention that I believe the Civil War Token Society has those books available, at least the newest editions (not sure about the older ones). Ebay is also a good source, although you may have to wait a bit for them to be offered - especially if you are looking for a storecard book.