Fairgrounds - Indian Head Civil War Token?

[catskillcomics]

Well, back to the fairgrounds today, in which I failed to pick up any silver.
Again the quarters were everywhere I dug up $10.33 in clad, $9.25 of which were clad quarters.
I did managed to pick up what I thought was to be an 1868 indian head penny, but when I got home and cleaned it, The back looked odd. When I took a closer look It read Amy and Navy on the back then New York as well.. I re-examed the front and it read United We Stand.. I am pretty stoked about this and am hoping its an Civil War Token. What do you guys think?

[angellionel]

I believe the Civil War tokens where minted from 1861 through1865. Could the date on yours actually be 1863? I can't really tell from the photo, though the last digit looks like a four? It is an excellent find! Congrats! thumbsup01

[Epi-hunter]

That is a great find :shocked04:

[catskillcomics]

It certainly looks like an 8 with the loup, but that doesn't mean it is, it could be a 3.

[OkieDigger]

I think just about every CW token is 1863. I believe that one is in the Red Book BTW. Nice find!

[MNDigger]

Congrats on the Civil War Token! One of those is definately on my list of to find!

[marchas45]

Awesome looking token CKC looks like some nice details should clean up well. thumbsup01

[Bentfork]

Cool find. thumbsup01

[coinnut]

Great Civil War Token. They don't come around too often these days. I'd take one of those over an Indian Head anyday (except for an 1877 :rolleyes: of course lol). Keep at that place. You may just make headlines in Britain American man finds 1 million dollars in clad lol Hey, that clad adds up fast, especially if it's commin at you in quarters! Nice hunt and a great token.

[Dave]

Wow, Thats a great find!! Congrats!

[del]

yup nice patriotic token , i've got a book on those type of tokens when i get home i'll look it up and give ya the info (i'm at work on lunch break now at 3:40 in the morning :twirlingeyes:) but most are 1860 - 1865 in dates though . some are worth a few bucks too. congrats

Dan

[del]

well i looked up this token in the Patriotic Civil War Tokens book by George and Melvin Fuld 4th revised edition it lists 3 of this variety Obverse (indian united we stand 1863) all with different reverses but did not show yours which is very odd . it did list yours as made of copper and 19mm in size and all 3 were listed with a rareity of r-8 = 5 to 10 known to r-10 = 1 only unique . i was trying to make out the top outside the wreath word on the reverse :huh: any idea as to what it says :huh: your token it looks like it might very well be a scarce or even rare token . hope this helps a little Scott.

Dan

[OkieDigger]

Congrats on the Civil War Token! One of those is definately on my list of to find!


You mean I've found something you haven't:huh:thinkingabout: lol

[catskillcomics]

i was trying to make out the top outside the wreath word on the reverse :huh: any idea as to what it says :huh:


Dan I appreciate your help on this.. and frankly really excited about this token. The only letters I have been able to make out so far 100% are
BROA_ BRO

[coinnut]

Oh boy....why am I always the bearer of bad news lol First off a great token, but something always made me wonder about it being a civil war token, in the strict sense. So I dug out Ralua's United States Token Book to try and narrow it down a bit. What I now think you have is a civil war era Store Card Token (Tradesmen's Store Cards). This is an advertising token playing on the themes popular during the Civil War. What made me lean towards the Store type advertising token was the words New York (a location) and the (partially) unidentified words above. But it didn't give a city to go with that state. So I looked up New York and found that stores in New York City didn't put the city name (it was understood). So New York means NYC, NY. Found a store with the name BROAS BROS. It's token has the Army Navy in a wreath along with their name at top and New York at the bottom. The only problem is that the Reverse of the token doesn't match the ones shown. Yes, the reverse is what I thought was the obverse, the Indian Head and date lol. So you may have a second variety of that stores token. Some of the other tokens from New York City have your Indian and date on theirs, but his has a different figure on it. So that's what I think so far. Ask me tomorrow and I may have a different answer lol ;)

[del]

hey that makes alot of sense with the New York and Broas Bros more of a personal token from a bussiness and not a government issued token . interesting , did your book list any type of rareity scale or a number of mintage by any chance.hey good work on finding some info on theis subject ( your quite helpful when ya wanna be lol ;)) is that the huge token book you got from the club auction :huh:

[OkieDigger]

I didn't think any of the CW tokens were government issued though? In fact, I believe the government considered them illegal didn't they?

[del]

I didn't think any of the CW tokens were government issued though? In fact, I believe the government considered them illegal didn't they?


Sorry i believe your right i should of said the bigger private bank issued tokens , Dale .
thanks for correcting me .

Dan

[catskillcomics]

Oh well crap, I thought maybe I had a real rarity .. maybe not so now.. but none the less, Im still pleased as punch to have found it.. I really appreciate the help on the research. I generally love doing research on finds, but with limited resources and limited knowledge on these tokens.. you guys came in real handy. Thanks a lot.

[coinnut]

Oh well crap, I thought maybe I had a real rarity .. maybe not so now.

Hey, Don't jump ship just yet, on the rarity thing big guy lol It may be an unknown variety. My book only listed one variety for that particular store, and it ain't yours. thumbsup01 There are thousands of tokens and hundreds of varieties, so anything is possible. Google store card tokens or civil war tradesmen tokens and see if any collecting societies come up. Then E mail them a picture of it and see if anyone has ever seen that combination of obv/rev dies. Either way, it's still an uncommon find and should at least get a 2x2 holder ;)

[catskillcomics]

Looky what I found on ebay.. just like mine but prettier
http://cgi.ebay.ca/1863-Broas-Bros-NY-Civil-War-Trade-Token_W0QQitemZ130341866515QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_D efaultDomain_0?hash=item1e58fb0c13

[coinnut]

Looky what I found on ebay.. just like mine but prettier
http://cgi.ebay.ca/1863-Broas-Bros-NY-Civil-War-Trade-Token_W0QQitemZ130341866515QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_D efaultDomain_0?hash=item1e58fb0c13


Sweet. Now you have the die variety and the book (author) from which they are attributed. The only difference is my book says the reverse die is the Indian Head side, and his says the opposite. I'm gonna have to get that book lol. Well it ain't rare, but it is a nice find. Look how quickly that mystery was solved thumbsup01

[Beefcake]

Congrats on the CW token! I put Okiedigger on one of them a couple years ago when he hunted with me! I have the one with the liberty head that looks like an elf.