Hi all, I recently won this Civil War Token: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200458955377&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT Using my Standard Catalog of US Tokens by Russell Rulau, it looks to me like it's a 110/442 die pair. Can anyone confirm this for me? I'm still learning this token stuff. Also, the ebay listing has a number of 3759 on it. I'm not sure what this number is referring to. In that token book, when the die numbers are listed with four digits, they are typically referring to store card dies. However, the store card die numbers don't go that high. Thanks! -StephenS
Stephen - I looks like 3759 is a tracking or lot number that the seller is using to organize/keep track of their own auctions. If you peruse the other auctions the seller is having, you'll notice that the seller is using sequential numbering on the suffixes of their auction titles. See his listings: http://shop.ebay.com/guinessoenterprises/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686
Hello Stephen, You are correct with the 110/442 die pair. When I first read your question concerning the 3759 number, my first thought was that it was an id number using the Hetrich & Guttag numbering system, which was widely used before Fuld's system. But, id 3759 is a Detroit, Michigan store card, so that is obviously incorrect. I occasionally see items from old collections that have H & G numbers. That system contained numbers from 1 up to 10506. I should have read CheetahCats' reply before doing my research, it would have saved me some time. I hope you enjoy collecting Civil War tokens, I find them quite fascinating and that is my favorite area of collecting. One word of caution though, Rulau's catalog is not a good reference for cwts, especially for store cards. Rulau states as such in the beginning of the cwt section. Rulau only lists the most common variety for each merchant, and some merchants had over 200 varieties, so many varieties are not listed in his catalog. If you are going to get into cwts, I would recommend 3 books: Patriotic Civil War Tokens by George and Melvin Fuld U.S. Civil War Store Cards by George and Melvin Fuld The Civil War Token Collectors Guide (includes valuations) by Bryon Kanzinger
Thank you very much, cwtokenman! I will see if I can find those other three books. I really like the CW tokens because of the number of different varieties that are out there. BTW - Did I severely overpay for the one that I linked to at the top of this thread? -StephenS
You are very welcome Stephen. You may have been able to find a slightly better deal, but you did not do bad. Kanzinger's lists that token at $12 in F/VF, $15 in XF and $20 in Unc, but Kanzinger's is a 2002 vintage book (2001 copyright), and cwts have had substantial increases in value from when that book was published, although the scarcer issues seem to have had greater increases. Cwts are a great thing to collect, partly because there are so many ways to collect them - by state, town, merchant, die numbers, die sinker, merchant theme, etc. Kanzinger also includes list of cwts by merchant theme in his book. Good luck with your collecting, and feel free to ask any questions you may have.
