coin chat, us coins forum or even general chat all acceptable for CWTs. We have more then a few here that collect them (myself included) I'll also add unlike a lot of other coin forums I've been a part of, we here at cointalk tend to be a bit more relaxed... well except for Doug, but we try not to let him out of his closet too often
Many thanks all for the warm welcome and the great pictures! I am totally clueless about CWT, so I will post some pictures of what I think might be of value to see if I am off-base or not. Appreciate it!
This might get you a little less "clueless." Civil War Tokens are divided into three broad categories. The Patriotic Tokens cannot be attributed to specific issuer. They can be pro-union, anti-union (the "unpatriotics") and neutral. They are listed by die variety numbers. Since the dies can be mixed in many combinations, that system works best. This is a pro-Union Monitor token, for the Union ironclad ship. This is a pro-Southern "copperhead." If you look at the words on the cuffs you will see "North" and "South." The image is of two equal nations, separate, but in friendship. This is all the South wanted. The Store Card Tokens can be attributed to a specific issuer or business. They often include the address of the business in their designs. The variety numbers start with a state code (postal abbreviations are used) for the location of the issuer, a town code and then a letter for the name of the business. The letters are alphabetical according to the business name. For example "Abbots store" would probably be among the first. "Zerbe's store" would be among the last. This piece was issued by a druggist who was selling hair dye. The variety is MI 770 C-1a. The Sutler Tokens were issued by merchants who supplied goods to the soldiers in the field. Almost all of these tokens are rare and expensive. This was issued by a sutler named Benton. He served the first regiment of the V Illinois.
Thanks all for the pictures. I have at least one of the Monitor and one of "peace forever" one plus a bunch of others - one of which has "John Bell" on it and some others with flags and such. It is a little bit late in the day, but I promise I will go through some and post the ones which I think are probably the best. Many thanks!
Hi All - I sincerely appreciate the good guidance on CWTs! As promised, I have posted four of mine in the "What it's worth" section of the forum. They are posted under AtlantaMan and start with "CWT - 1863..." I have a flag/shoot them, a beehive industry, a Congress and a George/Peace Forever. At least, it sort of looks like George. It's just what I thought is an interesting smattering of the collection. Anyway, I'd welcome your thoughts if you care to take a look and offer them. Many thanks!