(1864) Civil War Patriotic Token F-160/218b, Liberty For All

Coin Details

Description

Civil War patriotic token combining Fuld obverse die 160, a political figure or patriotic design from the Civil War era, with reverse die 218 bearing a design featuring "America". These privately manufactured cent-sized tokens served as emergency coinage throughout the North from 1862 to 1864. Their production was an entrepreneurial response to the wartime disappearance of federal small change from everyday commerce. Struck in brass, a less common composition that gave the token a distinctive golden color distinguishing it from the copper standard. Produced in 1864. The Fuld catalog documents over 10,000 distinct die combinations for patriotic tokens, making this one of the most complex series in all of American numismatics. Many die pairings are known from only a handful of surviving specimens. The token era demonstrated that private enterprise could fill a gap in the nation's monetary system when the government proved unable to maintain adequate circulating coinage.

Rarity Notes

Fuld 160/218b. Die pairing: obverse 160, reverse 218. Brass strikes are less common than copper. The Fuld rarity scale ranges from R-1 (over 5,000 known) to R-10 (unique); survival depends on the specific die combination, metal, and condition.

Cross References

Fuld 160/218b