I know this is not a coin but I was just wondering if any one knew the value of this token. It is dated 1864 and and is about the size of a US Cent. It says OG METCALF DRY GOODS BELMONT OHIO on it. I wish it was in a little better shape but all wording is legible. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks again, Ben
I'm not a token expert by any stretch of the imagination, so keep that in mind and wait for the experts to show up. But it looks to me like this is a Fuld ID#OH070A-1a. If it is, I think [but cannot verify with certainty] that is might be pretty rare and could potentially be worth a considerable amount of money [guesstimate = $2,000]. Anyway, I just thought I'd generate some excitement and maybe false hope, but at least my intentions are good. If I'm wrong I apologize in advance, but I'm still learning too and this caught my eye.
I took the token to a coin shop today and the owner said he was pretty sure it was an R-8 meaning it was very rare. He said he did not have any idea as to the value however. If I find out anything new i will keep you posted.
Thanks, I hope you are right. If you dont mind my asking where did you find the info on the ID#. I found a tokens book but it just had it listed as a R-8 which the man at the coin shop told me and in the price areas it just said RARE. I live just a short distancd from the area the token was from so that makes it even more interesting to me. Thanks for all the help. Ben
Generally that means the catalog compiler didn't have information on enough sales to make any realistic estimate. Just about the only way to put a value on that kind of material is to sell it at a well-advertised auction with multiple potential bidders.
I used two books. First I looked it up in the "Standard Catalog of United States Tokens" second edition by Russell Rulau. I just happen to have a library copy here which I just noticed is overdue! :desk: Then I looked up the number in "The Civil War Token Collectors Guide" for 2002 by Bryon Kanzinger to get an estimate of the price.
Ok, I'm done riding my bike for three months (storage for insurance reasons). Those 30 mile rides to work in 20 degree weather are not near so bad as most people think, but the salt sure eats up the aluminum engine cases. Rulau's catalog is generally a terrible guide for Civil War tokens. The listings are very abbreviated (only the most common token is listed for each merchant) as Rulau did not want the Civil War Token section to dominate his already hefty catalog. I do love when sellers use it though, as I have picked up a number of rare tokens that were listed as something more common. With all of that said, cloudsweeper did have the correct id number as Belmont, Ohio is a single merchant town, and a single variety merchant, meaning if any collector wants a cwt from this town, he needs one like your token. This token is listed as an R8 (5 to 10 known) token. These things are very good for you, making this token highly desirable. Kanzinger's 2002 Guide lowest listing for this token is at $2000 in F/VF. I would grade your token below that, but honestly, I doubt it would affect the value much in this case. Kanzinger's values were fairly accurate when published, and even for several years thereafter, but prices (at least on ebay) have been increasing considerably over the past year. The rarities seem to be increasing in value even more so than the commons. While I live in Ohio and am trying to put together a "city" set, I would likely have to be a spectator if you were to sell this token, but it sure would be an interesting one to watch! Oh, the reverse die is #1090, metal is copper, edge is plain. H & G # is 6501, but not many collectors use that system any more. Exonumia collectors are a bit different from collectors of regular coinage. A year or so ago, I would have told you that getting your token slabbed would have been a waste of your money, and may have actually lowered the selling price. Slabs were just hitting the cwt market, and they were not well accepted. I saw quite a few MS graded scarce cwts not even able to attract an opening bid of $1. Today, sadly IMO, that is no longer the case. Slabbed cwts are more commonplace, and unexplicably are bringing consistently higher prices than raw ones. By unexplicably, I mean that exonumia in general does not have the problems that regular coinage collectors have, and thus their "need" for slabs. Exonumia is not fraught with fakes, likely due to the fact that most people (even most coin collectors) would not be able to recognize a valuable token even if it was right in front of them. Concerns with cleaning? Heck, even Fulds indicates that something as severe as a well made hole may only lower the value about 10 percent. Even grade does not have tremendous impact, both as evidenced by total non-use of the Sheldon system in any comprehensive price/value listing that I have ever seen, as well as the vast majority of cwt values in Unc are only 1.5 to 3 times the value of the same token in F. Their scarcity makes them all desirable, regardless of grade. I would like to know your plans for this token out of curiosity.
Thanks for the great info cwtokenman. I had thought about sending this in to be slabbed. I was wondering who you would recommened as I am new to the CW token field. I have purchased a few from auctions over the past few months but this is the only one above a R-6. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again, Ben
Hi Ben, It depends what you wish to do with the token. If you are going to keep it, I would not bother to have it slabbed. Personally, I break out any of my tokens if they are slabbed. If you have read many of my posts, it becomes evident that I am not overly fond of tpgs. While I think that the tpg concept is basically a good one, the way they have gone about their business practices has left me greatly disappointed. I am a collector only, although I do trade a little. Since you are buying some tokens, I assume you are also collecting. If your intent is to sell this token, then you would likely realize a higher final price if it were slabbed. The tpg of choice for cwts seems to be NGC. I'm not sure if any of the others even slab cwts. Anacs may, but I have never checked into who will. Kanzinger instituted a "town rarity" scale, similar to the rarity number assigned to each individual token. The scale goes from 1 (common) to 10 (unique). There are no T-10 towns. Belmont, Ohio is a T-9 town. There are 14 towns in this group, 4 from Ohio. Only 8 towns are tougher, with T-9+ ratings. There are 400 total issueing towns for cwts. No one, not even the Fulds (who owned over 500,000 cwts), has ever assembled a complete "town" collection. Kanzinger describes a T-9 town as extremely rare. Some towns have not been offered for sale pulbicly for years. Makes up less than one tenth of 1 per cent of total market population. Prices start at $1000 and some towns will exceed $10,000. Speculative pricing.
