Can someone direct me to a good resource for Civil War Tokens? I would preffer an online refference. Thanks much.
I do not have many tokens, so I only have one site bookmarked. I use the search function there to identify stuff, more than anything. http://www.exonumia.com/ I'm sure someone else will be along shortly to offer you more.
What exactly do you want to do with the resource? If your goal is to find a site to assist in identification, I am not aware of one, but then, I have not looked for one either. If you are looking for a source to purchase some cwts, I know of several and could PM that info to you. If identification is your objective, I would highly recommend purchasing a few books, in order of priority: Patriotic Civil War Tokens, by George and Melvin Fuld (360 pages) ballpark price $35 U.S. Civil War Store Cards, by George and Melvin Fuld (645 pages) ballpark price $60-$85 The Civil War Token Collector's Guide, by Bryon Kanzinger (236 pages) ballpark price $20-$25 for the softback, $40-$50 for the hardback. I have both, and I prefer the softback. Ballpark prices are what the books typically sell for on ebay. The Civil War Token Society has the above books available, and offer a discount to members. I believe it is $10 for a one year membership. http://www.cwtsociety.com/ As you can imagine, that would be quite an extensive on line reference, as relatively little information is duplicated between the three books. Another piece of advice if you are looking for identification assistance, do not purchase the small, black softback books for patriotics or store cards by the Fulds. Definitely DO NOT buy Rulau's Standard Catalog of United States Tokens 1700-1900. While this is a good reference for many types of tokens, its mere 160 pages dedicated to Civil War tokens will only serve to confuse and be cause for making errors as it is very, very incomplete. I would be glad to assist you in any manner I possibly can, and it doesn't matter if you have only a few tokens or hundreds. Send me a PM if you would like me to help you.
cw: Wow, someone who agrees with me about Rulau's reference. It has to be the worst and most confusing reference book that I have ever gotten. Also, thanks for all of the advise in the past.
Well Frank, I guess we are in good company since Rulau himself states that his Civil War token section is just an overview. He states on page 4 (in the 4th edition) that the cwt section is deliberately incomplete so that the catalog (currently at 1200 pages) would not become dominated by the more than 11,000 pieces issued during the 1861-1865 period. Prior editions have had similar statements, but I imagine many do not read the catalogs thoroughly and miss those important statements. I do like it when an ebay seller mentions they looked their token up in Rulau's book though, since Rulau only lists the most common token for each merchant. I have picked up a number of rarities listed as commons that way.
