Most historians agree that slavery was the root cause of the Civil War. Yet, the subject appears on only a few Civil War tokens. There are also some pieces which make a less than direct reference to it. And there are a couple of pieces where collectors may have had an active imagination. When I was dealer, I stocked Civil War tokens as a side line. Sales from them often covered the cost of my table and then some. The slavery pieces were very popular, and I went out of my way to stock them. Here are some examples. This is by far, the most common anti-slavery Civil War token variety. The obverse reads, "Liberty and no slavery." This obverse was paired with two other reverses. The Fuld variety numbers are 36/340. This combination is the second most common when paired with die #36. The "Union for ever" reverse is die #271. This is the scarcest of the varieties. The "No compromise with traitors" reverse did not strike up well on this piece. Fuld rated it as an R-4 201 to 500 known. I think that it falls in the low end of that estimate. Fuld variety 9/407a Fuld 9A/406a These two tokens were made by Henry D. Higgins, who produced the "Indiana Primitives." Higgins made his dies either by making copy dies from existing tokens, which was done with Liberty Head obverses on these pieces, or by making his dies, which are often charmingly crude. The reverse dies on these pieces are Higgins creations. Higgins made eye glasses and barometers among other things. Farmers had a use for barometers in predicting the weather. The phrase, "Proclaim liberty though out the land" is from the Bible. It is one of the inscriptions on the Liberty Bell, and is making a reference to slavery. This piece was made by die maker, James Gleason, who produced "the Michigan primitives. It was more than likely issued after Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which the president called a "military necessity." The word is misspelled on the token, perhaps because Gleason ran out of room. This one might be the product of an overactive imagination. Runaway slaves used the north star as a navigation device when they were feeing north. There was a patriotic envelope which pointed out this fact. Weather there is a tie-in between the envelope and this token is a matter for speculation. This is a storecard Civil War token that was issued by attorney Neil Kendal Shafer. The "human rights" reference on the reverse had to be concerned with slavery. Shafer advertised himself as an expert on the constitution and gave lectors on the subject. There are some other pieces that are not listed as Civil War tokens that I will cover later.
N. Mendal Shafer was also somewhat of an inventor holding several patents including "Improved Road Pavement" and Improved Washing Machine.
Not again! Every time I get exposed to new token, medal, etc. I have to fight hard not to go find a few and spend my money on them. LOL Thanks for the history and education @johnmilton
Here are couple more Civil War related pieces which are not classified as Civil War tokens. This piece was issued after John Brown was hanged for treason after he tried to take weapons from the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859. Brown’s plan was to arm an army of runaway slaves first with pikes (spears) and later with the rifles he captured. They would conduct raids on slaveowners to free others. His efforts were thwarted, first by local gunmen, some of who got drunk for the occasion and ultimately by federal troops led by Robert E. Lee and JEB Stewart. John Brown remains a controversial figure to this day. My opinion of him is, righteous cause, wrong methods. Others view him as a martyr and great hero. This piece is in brass. DeWitt also lists it in silver, copper and white metal. It has been my experience that that white metal pieces are by far the most common. The brass is scarce, and I believe that the copper and silver pieces must be rare. This second piece was issued by the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts. I believe that the "Freedom of Speech" slogan refers to the gag order which forbid discussion of the slavery issue in Congress for a number of years. There were also movements to silence newspapers that printed anti-slavery messages in the border states. This piece is rather scarce. DeWitt lists it in silver, copper and white metal. I think that the first two compositions are very scarce to rare and that the white metal pieces are scarce.
