BKJG's Civil War Patriotic and Store Cards

Set Description
Welcome to my collection of Civil War Patriotic, Store Cards, and Sutler tokens. Thank you to NGC for awarding this collection Best Overall Custom Set in 2022. Many hours have been dedicated to this collection.

Being able to own a piece of American history is something I find tremendously remarkable. I enjoy sharing my passion and collection with others.

Brief History of the Inception of Civil War Tokens.

The creation of Civil War Tokens (CWT) was out of necessity. Early into the Civil War, U.S. Minted coins became scarce due to the population hoarding gold, silver, and copper-nickel minted coins. With banks not honoring the “Greenback,” businesses started suffering. Abraham Lincoln’s attempt to revive the Northern economy was to make US Postal stamps the official coinage. However, this was short-lived due to the durability of the paper the stamps were printed on. Businesses turned to private die strikers to strike coins as a form of currency. The first privately minted CWTs appeared in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the fall of 1862 (“Civil War Token,” 2022). By 1864, there were 25 million CWTs in circulation. Businesses usually set the value of CWTs at 1 cent. The downfall of CWTs began when the Third Avenue Railroad of New York attempted to redeem a “large quantity” of CWTs issued by Gustavus Lindenmueller of New York (CWTS – History, n.d.). Lindenmueller refused to honor his CWT.

The U.S. government ruled that Third Avenue Railroad had no legal recourse to force Lindenmueller to accept the CWTs. Not long after this incident, Congress enacted the Coinage Act of 1864. Coinage Act of 1864 changed the composition of the 1-cent coin from copper-nickel alloy to 95% copper. This made the 1-cent currency no longer practical to hoard due to the metal composition, which ended the use of CWTs practicality. CWTs legality was challenged on June 8, 1864, when Congress approved 18 U.S. Code § 486. 18 U.S. Code § 486 states: Whoever, except as authorized by law, makes or utters or passes, or attempts to utter or pass, any coins of gold or silver or other metal, or alloys of metals, intended for use as current money, whether in the resemblance of coins of the United States or of foreign countries, or the original design, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both (18 U.S. Code § 486 - Uttering Coins of Gold, Silver or Other Metal, n.d.). The passing of 18 U.S. Code § 486 ended the use of CWTs short life as currency and its beginning as a collectible.

The categories of CWT are broken into three subcategories consisting of:

Patriotic:
CWT displays a patriotic theme or slogan. A large majority of these were Pro-Union slogans or themes. The “Wealth of the South” series is the most popular pro-Confederate patriotic.

Store Card:
CWT advertises a privately owned business.

Sutler:
CWT was issued by a civilian merchant (sutler) who provided the Union Army with supplies. Sutlers would follow the Union Armies and provide them with tobacco, candy, writing materials, or non-military goods. Sutler CWTs are among the rarest CWTs.

Some highlights of my collection include the following:

Patriotic:

F-33/275j
F-167/435d
F-201/432j
F-260/447a
F-511/515i

Store Card:
CT-280A-1b
IL-95B-3d
IL-500B-4a
KY-510N-1b
NY-630AT-6a
OH-165CY-82a
OH-165CY-82b
OH-165FM-5d
OH-165FX-21b
OH-557A-2i
PA-750P-3j
RI-700D-1e

Sutler:
IL-S-51-5B

Pictures have been taken using the following setup:
• Nikon DSLR D3300
• Nikon - SB-300 AF Speedlight External Flash
• Nikon Nikkor AF-S 85mm f3.5 G ED DX VR Micro Lens AFS
• ALZO Copy Stand for Macro Tabletop Studio and Overhead Product Photography
• LitEnergy Portable A4 Tracing LED Copy Board Light Box
• 10" LED Ring Light

Reference:
18 U.S. Code § 486—Uttering coins of gold, silver, or other metal. (n.d.). LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved October 28, 2022, from https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/486
Civil War token. (2022). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Civil_War_token&oldid=1080023813
CWTS – History. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2022, from http://www.cwtsociety.com/history.shtml

From NGC 2022 Best Overall Custom Set :
BKJG's Civil War Patriotic and Store Cards - County Line Numismatics

During the Civil War, hoarding of gold, silver, and copper coins gave rise to privately minted tokens for commerce known as Civil War tokens. County Line Numismatic succinctly describes the history and types of these many colorful issues. Among the patriotic tokens, slogans as diverse as “peace forever” and “shoot him on the spot” can be found. This collection is notable for its high-grade samples and stellar photos of the 278 pieces.

Set Goals
2022 Best Overall Custom Set winner.

Continue to build an exploratory Civil War Patriotic and Store Cards collection.

2/2022: Set started.
4/2022: All CWTs have been added to the set.
6/2022: Slot Names and Numbers have been updated for easier reference.
7/2022-9/2022: Early collection pictures have been updated/ cropped to reflect my updated imaging setup.
7/2022-8/2023: More detailed information has been added to each CWT.