Civil War Tokens
In 1862, with the Civil War raging, coins were withdrawn from circulation in the northern states. Private die sinkers made the most of this coin shortage by making copper tokens for merchants. Some tokens had advertisements on them while others bore patriotic symbols or sentiments, but so many were designed to fool people into thinking that the coin they held in their palm was a real U.S. cent that the government banned the private minting of...Continue Reading