Civil War store poster Civil War tokens are token coins that were privately minted and distributed in the United States between 1861 and 1864. They were used chiefly in the Northeast and Midwest. The widespread use of the tokens was a result of the scarcity of government-issued cents during the Civil War. Civil War tokens became illegal after the United States Congress passed a law on April 22, 1864, prohibiting the issue of any one or two-cent coins, tokens or devices for use as currency. On June 8, 1864, an extra law was passed that forbade all secret neologism. [ 1 ]
Reading: Civil War token – Wikipedia
Civil War tokens are divided into three types—store cards, patriotic tokens, and sutler tokens. All three types were utilized as currentness, and are differentiated by their designs. The collectible value of the tokens is determined chiefly by their rarity .
history [edit ]
By 1862, the second year of the Civil War, government-issued neologism began vanishing from circulation. american english citizens hoarded all coins with gold and silver, and finally began hoarding copper-nickel cents as good. This made it extremely difficult for businesses to conduct transactions. In response, many merchants turned to individual minters to fill the void left by the roll up coins. The inaugural of these privately minted tokens appeared in the fall of 1862, by H. A. Ratterman, in Cincinnati, Ohio. New York issues followed in the leap of 1863, first with Lindenmueller currentness store menu tokens issued by New York City barkeep Gustavus Lindenmueller and then with Knickerbocker currency patriotic tokens issued by William H. Bridgens. It is estimated that by 1864, there were 25,000,000 Civil War tokens ( closely all cashable for one cent ) in circulation, consisting of approximately 7,000–8,000 varieties. [ 2 ]
Lindenmueller token Lindenmueller currentness, or “ Lindenmueller tokens, ” are one of the best-known and normally mint types were store cards. Lindenmueller had more than one million of his one-cent tokens struck and placed into circulation in 1863. One of the common uses for the token was for streetcar fare. The Third Avenue Railroad party of New York, which had willingly accepted a big quantity of the Lindenmueller tokens in stead of actual currency, asked Lindenmueller to redeem them. He refused, and the railroad had no legal recourse. Incidents such as these finally forced the government to intervene. [ 3 ] On April 22, 1864, Congress enacted the Coinage Act of 1864. While the act is most remember for the introduction of the phrase “ In God We Trust “ on the newly created two-cent man, it besides efficaciously ended the use of Civil War tokens. In addition to authorizing the mint of the two-cent slice, the act changed the constitution of the one-cent musical composition from a copper-nickel debase ( weighing 4.67 grams ) to a abstemious, less blockheaded piece composed of 95 % copper ( weighing 3.11 grams ). [ 4 ] The new one-cent nibble was much closer in weight to the Civil War tokens, and found greater adoption among the public. [ 5 ] While the Coinage Act made Civil War tokens impractical, the topic of their legality was decided on June 8, 1864, when Congress enacted 18 U.S.C. § 486, which made the mint and custom of non-government publish coins punishable by a fine of up to $ 2,000, a prison terminus of up to five years, or both. ( Chapter 25 of Title 18 deals specifically with counterfeit and counterfeit ). It did not make it illegal to own Civil War tokens. testify exists that the tokens were viewed equally collectibles adenine early as 1863, when the first know listings of Civil War tokens were published. [ 2 ]
Types [edit ]
patriotic tokens [edit ]
An exercise of a patriotic token
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patriotic Civil War tokens typically displayed a patriotic motto or trope on one or both sides. Since the majority of these tokens were minted in Union states, the slogans and images were decidedly pro-Union. Some coarse examples of slogans found on patriotic tokens are “ The Union Must and Shall Be Preserved, ” “ Union For Ever, ” and “ Old Glory ”. Some of the images found on patriotic tokens were the ease up of the United States, a 19th-century cannon, and the USS Monitor. [ 6 ] Among the best-known varieties of patriotic tokens are the alleged “ Dix tokens. ” They are named for John Adams Dix, who served as Secretary of the Treasury in 1861. In a letter from Dix to a gross cutter captain, Lieutenant Caldwell, he orders Caldwell to relieve another cutter captain of his command for refusing an order to transfer from New Orleans to New York City. The letter ends with the follow sentence : “ If any one attempts to haul down the american flag, shoot him on the spot. ” The quote found its way to a count of patriotic tokens, albeit with a slenderly modified give voice ( “ haul down ” is normally replaced by “ tear it down ” ) .
store cards [edit ]
An example of a civil war store card Civil War store cards differ from patriotic tokens in that one or both sides displays the list and/or placement of a privately owned business. Businesses that could afford it had two custom dies made, with both advertising the business. otherwise, alone one side displayed the clientele ‘s information. [ 7 ]
sutler tokens [edit ]
sutler tokens are similar to store cards. Rather than listing the name of a private business, however, these tokens bore the list of a particular army unit ( normally a regiment ) and the appoint of the sutler who conducted transactions with the regiment. Of the three types of Civil War tokens, sutler tokens are by far the rarest .
collectible respect [edit ]
There are respective factors that determine the collectible value of Civil War tokens. The main factor is curio, which is measured on a scale from 1 to 10 ( 1 being the most common type ). The scale was developed by noted numismatic trader and writer George Fuld. The material used to mint Civil War tokens can besides affect collectibility. Civil war tokens were minted using a kind of materials, copper being a common choice ( often actually bronze ). other materials used for minting were nickel, tin, german silver, white metallic element, and silver. Examples of tokens minted using arctic are besides known to exist. [ 2 ] [ 8 ]
Fuld rarity scale [edit ]
- R-1: Greater than 5,000
- R-2: Between 2,000 and 5,000
- R-3: Between 500 and 2,000
- R-4: Between 200 and 500
- R-5: Between 76 and 200
- R-6: Between 21 and 75
- R-7: Between 11 and 20
- R-8: Between 5 and 10
- R-9: Between 2 and 4
- R-10: Unique (one known example)
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