i have this coin or whatever. and i have no idea whatsoever what it is. Would anyone here care to take a stab at it. thanks in advance.
yeah that is very possible i didnt think of that. lol i dont know why. it would figure considering the date.
It is a Civil War Token in VERY poor condition and HARSHLY cleaned. It probably is only worth a couple of dollars, if that, in that condition. Here is one on eBay with a BIN price of $19.99 and one offer (for apparantly less that $19.99). The token on eBay is in MUCH better condition than yours.
This Civil War token was made with dies 112 (Washington) and 396 (Wilson's 1 Medal). What caught my attention immediately was the color. This die combination was struck both in copper and in brass. The copper version is very common with an R1 rating (over 5000 known), but the brass variety is rather scarce with an R9 rating (2 to 4 known). The color in the pics leads me to think that this token is brass. If that is correct, it would be worth more than a few dollars even in this condition. Not an amount you would retire on by any means, but it might bring enough to buy you a nice dinner out. I have a few of the copper ones, but not any of the brass.
Copper has a common coloration of brown or red-brown, like a circulated cent. However, copper pieces can exhibit the same range of colors as are to be found on the Indian Head and Lincoln cents, dark brown thru bright copper with luster. Brass will usually exhibit a distinct yellow coloration resembling an old, tarnished doorknob. The brass family is a group of copper and zinc alloys characterized by zinc contents of 15 to 39% with the balance copper. Since very little in the way of quality control was observed in Civil War days, the brasses can exhibit a wide range of chemical compostitions. Low zinc content brasses are strongly copper colored (sometimes called borderline brass) and are extremely difficult to distinguish from copper pieces; high zinc content brasses exhibit a strong yellow coloration. Most brass Civil War tokens are of the higher zinc content compositions. The above was taken from George and Melvin Fuld's "Patriotic Civil War Tokens". I hope those descriptions are helpful. If the color in the picture is close to the actual color of the token, I would be of the opinion that it is a brass token.
Yes, that is very cool. Civil War tokens provide many opportunities to own true rarities at very affordable prices (but they are not all inexpensive by any means). Just for a point of reference, the brass variety lists for $65 in F/VF, $90 in XF and $120 in Unc. Other than the grading services, the Sheldon scale is seldom used with cwts. Even though your token is not in the best of shape, its rarity would still generate demand for it.
