1863 DRY GOODS TOKEN...NEED HELP WITH ID!!!

[jmastny78]

Had a great day detecting, the weather cooled down to just about perfect for it! I hit three different spots today all of which originated in the early to mid 1800's. The last spot was a one block street tear out next to an old courthouse in a city just a lil way from where I live. Came away with 5 pennies, 1 dime, 2 quarters (one was a 65'...grrrrr), a blank that was just about a perfect size, shape and weight of a quarter, two buttons (one of which I'm guessing is copper because of the patina but the weight feels like lead), a piece to a snap, 3 modern bullets all fired (next to a courthouse-go figure) and a 1863 S.C. Evans & Co Dry Goods & C. Token! Very excited when that popped out!!! I had a very hard time finding anything on it, but I did find this link S.C. EVANS & CO / DEALERS / IN / DRY GOODS, / GROCERIES & C. / KENDALLVILLE, / IND. (TC-424078) Kendallville, Indiana (Noble County), U.S.A.. Apparently it's from the Evans Co. Out of Kendalville, IN in 1863. I was able to clean enough off the back to correctly ID and you can see a 63 at the bottom of the front. But, there is a difference between the pic on line and mine. The front of the one I found on line has only a head and stars going around it like a large cent. Mine has lettering at the top, you can clearly see the letter E at the top left which I'm assuming is Evans. Is it normal for there to be variations of tokens like regular coins? I would appreciate any and all assistance to figure this out! And, any methods for getting extremely hard soil off without damaging the token would be appreciated too! Thanks for looking and HH!

 

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[Miah]

Acording to Rulau's token book it's a rarity 6 (20-74 estimated existing) civil war token.

 

[jmastny78]

Thanks Miah! That's pretty cool! Do you have any notion about the variation between the two? That has me puzzled because the fronts of the two are very different from what I can tell

 

[Miah]

According to the Book it should have reverse 1089 which matches the picture in your link. your coin does seem to have some letters around the top. with a quick scan of my book I didn't notice any of the reverse Dies that match your coin.

 

[jmastny78]

Soooooo....what does that possibly mean? Good, bad, not sure? I am extremely green when it comes to tokens so I appreciate your help a lot!

 

[Erik in NJ]

It probably means that you have an extremely rare token in that yours might be the only one known of that variety (and that token book needs to be updated ). Be careful cleaning it. You could try putting it in lukewarm hydrogen peroxide to loosen the dirt or you might want to try using a tooth pick to carefully remove it. I would start with the tooth pick first. Congrats on the great find!

 

[jmastny78]

THAT IS AWESOME!!! Thanks for the insight from you both!

 

[cjon455]

cool token, how bout the knowledge of the users on this site!, amazing!

 

[jmastny78]

They're unbelievable! Crazy smart! That's why I love this website

 

[Erik in NJ]

BTW, the toothpick method is going to be a little slow, but it'll be the safest way to clean the token. You can supplement it with your finger nail if need be since that won't scratch the token. If there is any detail in the patina that is starting to flake off, this method will minimize any damage to it. On the other hand if the details are still strong, lukewarm hydrogen peroxide will work, but it may darken the token a bit which is not necessarily a bad thing. The peroxide will dry it out, so you can splash a bit of distilled water on it and pat dry. Then you'll want to seal it with a light coat of melted bees wax and buff it or apply a product I like very much called Verdi-Care (I get mine from Wizard Coin Supply) that will hydrate and seal the token. If you use Verdi-Care there's no need for the distilled water. Show us some pics of your progress on it.

 

[jmastny78]

Most definitely! That dirt is cakes on pretty good so it's going to be slow going but I'll update when I get thru with it. Thanks for the cleaning and sealing info! Didn't know about the peroxide and wax, I think I'm going to use that on a few other coins I found earlier!

 

[Erik in NJ]

Warm or hot peroxide is great for cleaning coins with strong detail. I've used it on 2 Cent pieces and IH cents that were very dirty and made them come out beautiful. I even used it on my CT copper (the banner find under my avatar), just be careful with it on coins where there is detail in the flaking patina as you'll lose some of that detail and probably expose pitting. Make sure to use pure bees wax (just melt a tiny bit and apply with a cotton cloth) and not regular candle wax and the Verdi-Care is excellent too and just applies with a Q-tip.

 

[Bramblefind]

Nice find! This is the listing in the 2013 Bowers Civil War Tokens Guide. I think your token is the variety listed as using the Store Card 1226 die.

 

[jmastny78]

That works! I've got some really nice IHs that would work wonders on as well as another civil war token I found last year

 

[jmastny78]

Bramblefield, I do believe you're right! I just checked it out under some bright light and I see an A and a star next to the 3! Well done and thank you!

 

[Mackaydon]

NGC notes four different varieties of that token; one may be yours. Unfortunately, this site (Tokens and Medals - MS Civil War Store Cards - Indiana Pop Report | NGC) doesn't include pics of the varieties.
Don....

 

[Old Dude]

As Erik in NJ said, be very careful with the hydrogen peroxide. I ruined an 1831 LC that looked like it was strong enough to use that method. I won't even recommend it now because I would not want to be blamed for the same thing happening to someone else. A toothpick is all I will endorse lol. Congrats on the finds.