Civil War Tokens

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Re: Civil War Tokens

#171 Unread post by mhonzell »

This token emphasizes a couple of misunderstandings about Civil War Tokens:
1. The token was originally identified as having been made in 1860. A search of businesses that existed in Chicago between 1858 and 1866 did not find this one. As such, in 1982 it was no longer grouped with Civil War Tokens, yet it does have a typical Fuld number assigned to it: IL-150AC-1a. It was actually made somewhere between 1872 and 1876. (There are many from Chicago that were originally identified as CWTs, but have since been removed.)
2. Unfortunately, the TPGs are much slower about getting rid of a designation since they've already issued holders with them identified by the original reference. (This one is a raw coin, so it will get filed properly. :-)) This can really throw a kink into the works when someone is trying to research a token.
3. It shows that these tokens continued to be used well after the Civil War.

Interestingly, Harlev didn't come to America until 1857 and lived in Mankato, Minnesota until 1871.
Born as Nicolai Severin Vilhelm Jensen Harlev, he went into business with his brother Christian Johnson from 1872 until 1876. In 1876, he became the sole proprietor of the business and made a new token: IL-150AB-1a, which only has his name. In 1878, he moved to 220 Milwaukee Ave, where his name is recorded as "Harler".

They manufactured their own goods: Hats, caps, clothing, trunks and furnishing goods. They were quite busy... For example: they made four thousand boxes of paper collars each week.
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Re: Civil War Tokens

#172 Unread post by Daniel »

Interesting. I never looked this up.

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Re: Civil War Tokens

#173 Unread post by mhonzell »

Not a rare token at R-2, this PA750E-1a is a little unusual in that the Liberty bust is actually in a cameo state. That's almost unheard of with tokens.
To me, this has a couple of other interesting things:

1. Look at the 'R' in BEIRN.
2. Look at the 'H's in PHILADELPHIA.
3. On the reverse, the engraver actually put his initials under the bust... R. L. (Robert Lovett Jr.) He was known for his presidential campaign buttons of 1864. His workmanship was high quality. Planchets were thick, strikes bold with fine details. However, he was best known for his Confederate Cents, which are currently sold as Bashlow Restrikes.
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Re: Civil War Tokens

#174 Unread post by Daniel »

The finish, strike and state of preservation places this in a better than R-2 category and is a nice all around token.

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Re: Civil War Tokens

#175 Unread post by PetesPockets55 »

mhonzell wrote: Thu Oct 19, 2017 11:02 pm .........They manufactured their own goods: Hats, caps, clothing, trunks and furnishing goods. They were quite busy... For example: they made four thousand boxes of paper collars each week.
Can't imagine wearing those collars.
But maybe it helped reduce neck disc injuries by stretching out the neck!! lol:

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Re: Civil War Tokens

#176 Unread post by PetesPockets55 »

mhonzell wrote: Fri Oct 20, 2017 11:18 pm Not a rare token at R-2, this PA750E-1a is a little unusual in that the Liberty bust is actually in a cameo state. That's almost unheard of with tokens.
To me, this has a couple of other interesting things:

1. Look at the 'R' in BEIRN.
2. Look at the 'H's in PHILADELPHIA.
3. On the reverse, the engraver actually put his initials under the bust... R. L. (Robert Lovett Jr.) He was known for his presidential campaign buttons of 1864. His workmanship was high quality. Planchets were thick, strikes bold with fine details. However, he was best known for his Confederate Cents, which are currently sold as Bashlow Restrikes.
Thanks Mark. Lots of interesting info here. Do you have any others with the cameo strike?
The R looks like a capital R over small r.
Can't really tell what is under the H's. Do you think the square in the center of the H was to strengthen the punch somehow or was the H applied over some other character? :confused:

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Re: Civil War Tokens

#177 Unread post by mhonzell »

This is actually the first token I have found that I could call cameo. Of course, the reverse is not, so, a TPG would not grade it as such.
The H's seem to have been intentionally made that way. The 'R' appears to be the vestiges of an 'R' that was turned 90 degrees clockwise.
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Re: Civil War Tokens

#178 Unread post by PetesPockets55 »

Neat that you found an R over a horizontal R.
Wonder if there may have been rust on the master bust die from sitting around creating a cameo effect?
Also would they create different dies from separate components?
What I mean is, would there be a die for the bust, a separate die for the words or letters, and a separate die for any "image", etc? They could construct customized dies for clients that way.
Sort of a die buffet! lol:

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Re: Civil War Tokens

#179 Unread post by mhonzell »

(Today, I'm trying a new technique in my photo.)
This is the only token I have where the dies were actually made by the US Mint and has a reeded edge..

While the advertisement says the Great Central Fair, it was actually the Great Central Sanitary Fair. That should make one wonder!
Many of these tokens will have the word "Union" on them. Sometimes alone, others in a phrase such as, "Preserve the Union". All this time, I was under the impression it was in relation to the northern forces. In most cases, it has double meaning: the Union forces and the Republican party (Abraham Lincoln's policies, and their ideology.)
Great-Central-Sanitary-1.jpg
There were two main groups: Daughters of the Union Veterans and Sons of the Union Veterans. Both represented a group who believed in Fraternity, Charity, and Loyalty. Many of these members eventually became the GAR, or Grand Army of the Republic. Known today as the GOP or Republican Party.

In June 1864, with the war still raging on, Philadelphia, PA put on the greatest fair ever seen. Covering the entirety of Logan Square (now, Logan Circle... go figure) and raising over a million dollars for food, medical supplies, military hospital ships, and rest homes for veterans, this fair was promoted by the Union League of Philadelphia (made up of both Sons and Daughters of the Union Veterans.)

This fair had been conducted one year earlier in Milwaukee with little success. But, it was catching on! Amazingly, Abraham Lincoln was not much for presenting recreation to raise funds leaving him somewhat against the Sanitary Commission. By war's end, the Sanitary Commission raised over fifteen million to take care of the troops.

And the token... well, it was distributed by the Union League at the fair as a souvenir. It is slightly smaller than a dime and recognized as PA750L-1a.
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Re: Civil War Tokens

#180 Unread post by PetesPockets55 »

Nicely done again.
Your images show the detail of Washington's hair very well.

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Re: Civil War Tokens

#181 Unread post by mhonzell »

Well, I haven't added to my book in a while, so let me give you one I recently acquired. OH 400A-2a (R4)
The token has a 90 degree rotation from coin alignment on the reverse, making it yet another CWT error coin. I also think this one may have been cleaned somewhere in the past as the surfaces seem a bit muted for the condition.

From the Hillsboro, OH, Hardware, Iron & Nail shop.
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Sometimes, others tell the history far better... here's a portion of Capt. Kibler's obituary.
Untitled.jpg
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Re: Civil War Tokens

#182 Unread post by Daniel »

Love these and the anvil is cool!

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Re: Civil War Tokens

#183 Unread post by Paul »

:thumbsup: :trophy:
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Re: Civil War Tokens

#184 Unread post by PetesPockets55 »

Love that one too.
That anvil on the reverse didn't leave any question about his business working in metal.

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Re: Civil War Tokens

#185 Unread post by mhonzell »

My most recent acquisition. Not a coin, but it fits nicely with all my Civil War Tokens, complete Indian Head Cent collection, and Civil War Newspapers.
A campaign token for Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin. Yep, those are tin photos of each. Known as a ferrotype photo. This was for Lincoln's run for president in 1860, before the Civil War.
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Re: Civil War Tokens

#186 Unread post by Daniel »

Nice!

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Re: Civil War Tokens

#187 Unread post by Paul »

hugeeyes very cool M.
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Re: Civil War Tokens

#188 Unread post by PetesPockets55 »

Thanks Mark. Absolutely fantastic. So interesting to see something with his image from before he became president.
It amazes me that the tin is still intact after 159 years.

How did you happen to come across this? .... Auction?

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Re: Civil War Tokens

#189 Unread post by mhonzell »

I follow Steve Hayden. Huge collector of Civil War and Hard Times tokens. He put out a letter that let me know he was selling this.
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Re: Civil War Tokens

#190 Unread post by PetesPockets55 »

Thanks Mark.
I wonder if he upgraded and that was why he was selling? No matter though because it's in good hands now! :thumbsup:

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Re: Civil War Tokens

#191 Unread post by mhonzell »

So, I'm looking at this campaign "charm" under the scope. I think the reason the photos survived is that they are covered in a shellac. Here's another image. You can see the fine cracks in the surface.
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Re: Civil War Tokens

#192 Unread post by PetesPockets55 »

That is interesting. I almost expected it to be mica, similar to the "encased postage stamps". But it does appear to be a lacquer or coating.

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Re: Civil War Tokens

#193 Unread post by mhonzell »

Okay, here's a weird one...

I have a NY630BV-2a, otherwise known as Story & Southworth. It was sold as a -1a, but hey... maybe they didn't have the books. Neither die used is of much consequence other than it was made by Emil Sigel. As you may have figured out CWTs are tracked by the combination of dies used, or by where it was made. So, NY630BV was made in New York, New York. The individual dies are: Obverse-NY630BV O-2, Reverse-1216. As you have seen their quality control wasn't always up to mint standard. So, on this particular token, if you look closely to the reverse near the date and UNITED, you'll see that the dies clashed hard enough to damage the 1216 die (eagle side). You can just make out the ampersand and Y (from STORY) inside the circle.
b-horz.jpg
Funny part is, these die sinkers would mix and match their dies. A while back I posted a patriotic CWT by Emil Sigel that had some odd items on the eagle side, but I couldn't figure out how an ampersand got on the token when one doesn't exist on either die used. You can probably guess the rest of the STORY.
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Re: Civil War Tokens

#194 Unread post by Daniel »

Cool to find this out.

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Re: Civil War Tokens

#195 Unread post by Paul »

:cool:
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Re: Civil War Tokens

#196 Unread post by mhonzell »

Look at that token above. I originally thought it was struck over another coin, but it turned out to be a die clash with another die not used on the token I was looking at.
I mentioned that those Die Sinkers would go to events and press token images over actual coinage. Just wanted you to know why I was a little confused.

Here's a token pressed over an 1859 Indian Head Cent. Token dies are Indian Princess (die 53) over Our Navy (die 336). Or, F-53/336-do. Made by Charles D. Horter.
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Re: Civil War Tokens

#197 Unread post by Paul »

hugeeyes :trophy: :yourock:
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Re: Civil War Tokens

#198 Unread post by Daniel »

Very nice coin1

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Re: Civil War Tokens

#199 Unread post by PetesPockets55 »

Neat and easy to see the confusion now that it is pointed out.
So at these events (conventions, marketing or sales exhibits), instead of using blanks they would use whatever was handy, even a real IH cent.
Must have tough carrying those "portable" presses from venue to venue!

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