Background

This discussion is limited to US Tokens that are interesting to coin collectors. The earliest US Tokens were made in the late 1700’s, mainly manufactured by merchants and for merchants. Token coins are made to resemble legal tender coins. They are generally round and made of non-precious metals. They are not legal tender like government issued coins. They can have a face value that is sometimes shown, but most often not.

Historic US Tokens

Here are some tokens that were made (some still are) mostly to enable commerce of various coins. While these are interesting, they will not be discussed in detail in this presentation.

ØFare tokens used for transportation, e.g. Bus, Subway

ØArcade Game tokens

ØSlot Machine tokens

ØStaff tokens used to pay workers in place of money (these could only be used in the company’s store)

ØCar Wash Tokens

ØParking Garage tokens

Popular Collectible US Tokens

Here are tokens that that form the subject matter of this presentation. These tokens are actively collected by collectors of US coins.

ØTrade tokens mostly created by merchants

ØHard Times tokens

ØMade from 1833 to 1844

ØUsed in place of government issued coins, which were scarce

ØCivil War tokens

ØMade in the 1860’s, mostly between 1861-4

ØAlso used in place of government issued coins

Trade Tokens aka Merchant Tokens

Merchant Tokens were made starting around 1817. These are also called Store Cards. They were often made by merchants as a substitute for real coins, which were in short supply at the time. They were also useful for advertising. Trade/Merchant tokens continued to be made through the ‘Hard Times’ and ‘Civil War’ token periods

Here are some example Trade/Merchant Tokens:

Hard Times Tokens

Lyman Low wrote a book ‘Hard Times Tokens’ in 1877, and the title was taken as the name of these tokens. They are reflective of difficult economic times in the 1830’s and 1840’s. Most tokens of any tylpe minted during these years are now called Hard Times Tokens. They were mainly used as 1c coins, and most are about the size of Large Cents.

Here are some example Hard Times Tokens:

Civil War Tokens

There was an upsurge in the production of tokens starting with the Civil War. More than 25 Million are estimated to have been made between 1861 to 1864. There are two types of Civil War tokens; 1) Patriotic, mostly supporting the war, some opposed to the war, and 2) Store Cards, most with advertising from the issuing store.

These coins are about the size of modern US Cents, and legal tender cents were modelled after them when the small cent came into existence in 1856. Civil War tokens are nicknamed ‘Copperheads’

Here are some example Civil War Tokens:

Conclusions

This has been a brief look into US Tokens. They are popular items for US coin collectors. US Tokens are a window into US early history. Thousands of varieties of tokens were made in the 1800’s. They can be inexpensive to collect and very rewarding.

Happy Hunting!