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 Replies: 8 / Views: 1,233 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4883 Posts |
A shop I patronize had just bought a group of these, and I was fortunate enough to get to cherrypick the lot. It's a genre for which I'm not knowledgeable except in the most general terms. So I selected those that seemed to me to be especially interesting, attractive, in better condition, or any combination of those attributes. They're each more or less the size of a small U.S. cent. #1 -  From what I can tell, this is a fairly common piece. I was intrigued by the reference to "Union Flour" and was thinking perhaps the company was a supplier of that commodity to the federal armies. Note that the "U" in "Union" looks to have been restamped. #2 -  I'm thinking that the motif is a statue of George Washington, although I'm not sure where it was located. Note that the "S" in the first "First" appears to have been stamped over a another letter put there by mistake. My research indicates this is overall a fairly common token, but scarce in higher grades. #3 -  Evidently another pretty common type, but I just plain liked the look of this one.... #4 -  This last specimen seems to be a bit pricier on the market than the others. The obverse closely mimics that of the Indian Head cent, but note the legend "Business Card" at the top, seeming to rather disavow that it was intended to circulate in lieu of the official coinage. A factor for me in picking this one out was that my father was from the Buffalo area (the village of Depew, to be precise). I don't think I did too badly "winging it" on these. Colligo ergo sum
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Moderator
 United States
34397 Posts |
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I don't think I did too badly "winging it" on these. Not my area of expertise, but I agree.  "If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Moderator
United States
188027 Posts |
Well done! |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4883 Posts |
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Not my area of expertise... Nor mine, which is why today I've ordered up copies of both the Fuld and Bowers guides (I know, buy the book before you buy the coin). In any event, ever since I was a youngster I've had a keen interest in the Civil War, so starting to collect these tokens is a natural fit for me. Colligo ergo sum
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Moderator
United States
34397 Posts |
Yes good idea @LC, although I like my Rulau.
"If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Moderator
United States
14463 Posts |
The top and bottom tokens are called Store Cards, and the 2 in the middle are called Patriot Tokens. I have tried to stay away from collecting store cards, but I do have a few. Here is my album of Civil War Tokens and some Hard Times Tokens. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
987 Posts |
I don't have any of these, but if my LCS got some in I would do the same.
I wish you good luck as you go about studying and collecting more.
Edited by thisistheshow
03/25/2019 10:07 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4883 Posts |
Well, I received my copy of Patriotic Civil War Tokens (1965 Edition) which immediately allows me to get a much better handle on two of these acquisitions.
I have my #3 as an 8/314. Based on the mushy "S", I assessed my #2 as a 175/272. The problem is that particular die pair isn't cataloged, so the likelihood is that contrary to my take on it, it's actually a 174/272. That'd make both of them R-1's, or of the most common sort. From what I've read so far, as a genre these circulated only for a period of at most somewhat over a year, so I suppose it shouldn't be surprising that specimens would survive exhibiting minimal wear.
Colligo ergo sum
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4883 Posts |
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The top and bottom tokens are called Store Cards, and the 2 in the middle are called Patriot Tokens. I've been able to acquire and look through Fuld's U.S. Civil War Store Cards (Second Edition) and now fully appreciate the that there are these two distinct types, store cards and patriotic tokens. Despite the tremendous variety to be found within each category, actually as a topic it seems to me overall not too complicated. As a collector of either, I suppose the holy grail would be to find an uncataloged die or pairing. Colligo ergo sum
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Replies: 8 / Views: 1,233 |
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Posted 03/19/2019 09:03 am
