Traded for these tokens a few days back. I am not a token guy but know that they are all Civil War and Hard Times tokens. Enjoy- I'm trying the Photobucket slideshow, let me know if it doesn't work: http://s1083.photobucket.com/user/mammoth29/slideshow/Tokens
The slide show works fine, but even on "slow," there's no time to study the images. I think I would revert to "manual" selection of images. Very nice group of tokens with exceptionally good fields and virtually no stains.
I'm not very good with these but I have to ask. Are you sure they are real? They just seem to match too well.
This occurred to me too, but I didn't want to rain on the parade. The fields and the overall appearance are on the verge of "too good." Here's the problem (100kg metal boxes of shiny-new Chinese Half Cents, Large Cents, and Indianheads).
Yeah, I must admit that I have been wondering the same thing. I will have to get them checked out I guess, but who could authenticate them? I doubt my lcs would have that expertise.
I looked at them again; now I know what bothered me - all the store cards look like they were struck on the same planchet, featuring a high, uniform, perfectly-round rim with no die marks. The "Fisheries" token is Canadian, and the "Not One Cent" is a Hard Times Token, circa 1837 if not dated.
Talked to an "expert" and he has confirmed that these tokens are real! Now I am going to see if anyone wants to trade...
I'm going to agree that they are genuine. Others at NGC also agree. Attributions are available on the OP's thread there as well.
Yes they do However these were not the experts that I was referring to just so we are clear, though I do believe those who posted over at NGC are aptly knowledgeable about the tokens.
Aren't tokens usualy pretty dicey when it comes to monetary value? Most of them could only be used at certain stores or markets. I know certain tokens from old coal mines could only be used in the mining village in exchange for food and other items from the stores owned by the mine. I do not know if all or most tokens work this way but there is a reason it's a token and not a "coin."
I believe you are correct, merchant tokens were issued and good only at said merchant. I do not have any merchant tokens, just Civil War tokens and Hard Times tokens. -Civil War tokens were privately minted and issued during the war due to the scarcity of government issued cents. I have examples of the store cards and patriotic tokens. -Hard Times tokens were also struck privately and used as sort of unofficial currency for a while. I don't pretend to know a lot about tokens as they are not my point of focus, this is just what I have learned over the last while.
Generally speaking CWT's, both the patriotic and store cards, circulated mostly within the community they were introduced into. Any merchant or citizen recognized that they could always go to the business advertised on store cards and redeem it for merchandise. Everything changed in 1864 when Congress declared these tokens to be illegal for any debt public or private and thus merchants were off the hook for redemption. Recommended reading: "Patriotic Civil War Tokens" by George nd Melvin Fuld "U.S. Civil War Store Cards", by George and Melvin Fuld "A Guide Book of Civil War Tokens" by Q. David Bowers
Meaning that if all the tokens prove to be genuine, then I was wrong too, although I was not quite as adamant as ldhair; it just seemed odd that all the planchets looked alike.
