FOUND 3 YEARS AGO

[Conito@55]

I found this in a ghost town about 3 years ago. I never knew what they were, I just knew they were old.

 

[robertk]

Tokens of some sort? Pretty cool finds.

 

[UnderMiner]

Those are Hard Times Tokens aka Patriotic War Tokens. See the date on them is 1863? This was during the coin shortage that coincided with the American Civil War. Up until the Coinage Act of 1864 people would mint their own coins to make up for the shortfall in circulating US coins (known as "specie"), which were hoarded during the war years. They were hoarded because paper currency wasn't trusted and was considered inferior to "hard money". Copper tokens like yours were used as hard money, even if they weren't issued by the US Mint, since they were still made of intrinsically valuable metal (though almost always just brass or copper). These tokens were often traded in leu of real coins, maintaining the same value as the US penny. As yours blatantly displays, they often hosted patriotic slogans. "Our Navy" and "Army & Navy" is in reference to the Union Army and Navy that was activity fighting at the time against the Confederacy.

 

[Conito@55]

Those are Hard Times Tokens aka Patriotic War Tokens. See the date on them is 1863? This was during the coin shortage that coincided with the American Civil War. Up until the Coinage Act of 1864 people would mint their own coins to make up for the shortfall in circulating US coins (known as "specie"), which were hoarded during the war years. They were hoarded because paper currency wasn't trusted and was considered inferior to "hard money". Copper tokens like yours were used as hard money, even if they weren't issued by the US Mint, since they were still made of intrinsically valuable metal (though almost always just brass or copper). These tokens were often traded in leu of real coins, maintaining the same value as the US penny. As yours blatantly displays, they often hosted patriotic slogans. "Our Navy" and "Army & Navy" is in reference to the Union Army and Navy that was activity fighting at the time against the Confederacy.

Thank you for that amazing information.

 

[Conito@55]

Tokens of some sort? Pretty cool finds.

Thanks

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

Some real pieces of history there - congrats !
Finding Civil War Tokens / Store Cards is always a thrill !

 

[Conito@55]

Some real pieces of history there - congrats !
Finding Civil War Tokens / Store Cards is always a thrill !

Thank you

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Thread moved. Today's Finds Forum is for very recent finds.

 

[ArfieBoy]

Great finds. Congratulations on three of them! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Conito@55]

Great finds. Congratulations on three of them! Thanks for sharing.

Thank you