Acquired in a bulk swap of rolls of pennies for tokens. Has any of the CSA tokens collectors ever seen something like this, about the size of modern tool check which is about a quarter in size twice as thick, non magnetic, heavily blackened, hand stamps are a exact or very close match to letter stamps I own and use. Fontr style seems to plain for the time period. I also couldn't find any CSA collectors forums other than stamps, documents. anybody have any ideas what it is supposed to be? I would thing that a general would have a little higher quality tag, even if it was for his traveling chamber pot! thanks
Well some more info the guy I got it from said it is a matron large cent, It is copper I dipped it since it is what it is. He also said that part of the word liberty was between the N and 6 even with my digital microscope the only thing I can see between the two is space
The Confederacy was pretty primitive when it came to machinery. Most of the machinery, including equipment to make tokens, was in the North. That's why Confederate coins and tokens are rare.
You probably should have started a new post with your question. This link is eight years old. A very common mistake by many. I belong to the CWTS and I have never seen, heard of, nor is this piece cataloged by Fuld anywhere. The sharpness and evenness of the face looks too clean for an old token. Each element was countersunk as opposed to being cast or struck by a die. There is no value or advertising associated with it; either in merchandise, discount or straight out value. I believe it's bogus. Maybe it's a souvenir, with a hole being for a chain, sold at gatherings more likely in the south.
Well some more info, from the party that found it. It was found 2" deep in the commons of a town in NC. his father did wizz wheeled it to get the heavy green corrosion of it. I did dip it in cleaner and still couldn't see the coins lettering between the N and 6. I can see very little of the outline of the matrons lower neck line. I got to thinking that it might be a case of a rebel soldier that made a good luck piece from a Northern coin. Or that it was what was handy at the time. It will remain in the "what's itz page" in an album.
You might want to go to Civilwartalk.com website. They have experts on there for all kinds of artifacts from the war.
You're right, Conder. These look to be fairly modern. Certainly not Civil War-era and likely not even 19th century. Bruce
I agree with the others that it is a manufactured "relic". The copper is old, but the punches are modern. There would be a considerable amount of corrosion within the lettering if it were a period piece of the civil war.
Well so far here is the first posted answer that I got on the Civil war talk forum, Sort of what I was thinking with the letter stamp style! The impression of the item is that it is a modern fake/reproduction/curio collector piece.... Very rare that you see anything of the period stamped with "CSA", and/or a correlating war time date such as this... "Gen Lee" rather than more frequently used "R.E. Lee".... These are common traits with folks trying to peddle off something that it isnt... It may very well be on a period coin.. That's part of the ruse... and attempt to imply validity to the item since the coin is old..... ID coins and tokens were more frequently found engraved, not metal stamped...(post war veteran ladder badges are something different) The font stampings used on this are of a modern pattern.. not one that was of typical use in that period... The shanks of period die stamps were normally squared... You can see the oval impression on several of the letters here that were deeply impressed... that's a modern type.. Also note that the stamped depression areas completely lack any pitting, corrosion and ground action like the rest of the coin displays... which confirms it was added onto it much much later.. I would pass on that item...
You're right, Circus. The impressions of the the rounded shoulders of the stamps are a give away. The punches look very modern too, probably no older than 20 or 30 years. Bruce
Not really a problem as it was a toss in the box kind of thing by the guy that I got the bulk swap tokens for pennies. If it was something of historic value it probably would have been given to a museum were it could have been seen by more people!