A couple of Lincoln Civil War Tokens from the 1860 Presidential Campaign

[BillJones]

One of the factors that defines a Civil War token is that it is a piece that was minted from 1861 to 1864. The year 1861 marked the beginning of the war, and in 1864 Congress enacted legislation that outlawed the used of such tokens in place of U.S. coinage. For whatever reason George and Melvin Fuld chose to include the so-called Wealth of the South series of tokens, which were dated 1860, in the Civil War token series.

 

The Wealth of the South tokens get their name from the pro southern token (there are actually several minor varieties of them) that had that as its title. Included in the series, which were made by the same die sinker, are tokens for each of the four candidates who ran for President in 1860. There are two minor obverse die Lincoln varieties, and here they are.

 

DeWitt number AL 1860-61 (obverse a.k.a. Fuld 507) features a young looking beardless Lincoln. All but one of the 1860 related Lincoln campaign pieces feature Lincoln without his trademark beard. He did not grow it until he had been elected and then kept it for the rest of his life. This is one way that collectors can distinguish the 1860 campaign pieces from the 1864 tokens and medalets. The reverse of this token is the "President's House" variety, which was paired with each of the other candidate's dies. This is the most commonly seen reverse for all four candidates.

 

 

DeWitt number AL 1860-62 (obverse a.k.a. Fuld 506) features to same design with slight variations. The one that collectors most often point out is the absence of the period after "ILL". There are other minor differences between the placement of the letters and Lincoln’s bust.

 

I believe that this die was made first and that it cracked part way through the production run. You will note that there is a crack to the right of the letter “F” in “FOR” and though the “R” in “PRESIDENT.” The reverse is features the slogan, “The Union must and shall be preserved.” These words were first spoken by Andrew Jackson at a Jefferson Day Dinner when vice president, John C. Calhoun, was challenging the Federal Government’s authority impose protective tariffs upon the states. This was known as the Nullification Crisis because Calhoun claimed that the states had the right to nullify any law that opposed that state’s interests. This is a very rare die combination.

 

[farthing]

Nice tokens!

 

It's interesting that the spot for the hole for suspension was indicated. I know a number of tokens are normally found holed for suspension but I don't believe I've ever seen one with the location marked as part of the die.

[BillJones]

You have made a good point. I don't recall seeing another other political tokens, other than the wealth of the south series that had a mark for the suspension hole. Here are examples of the wealth of the south tokens. One, which I believe is a piece that actually used as a political token, has a hole; and the other does not. You will note that there is no mark for the hole. Some wealth of the south pieces have the hole at four o’clock for some reason.

 

 

 

Here is a John Breckenridge token from the same series. You will note that it has the mark for the hole too. This mark is also seen on the other two tokens for John Bell and Stephen Douglas.

 

[thebeav]

Nice tokens!

 

It's interesting that the spot for the hole for suspension was indicated.

 

Took the words out of my mouse......

Those are great pieces.....

 

Paul

[BillJones]

I posted pictures across the street of my other "Wealth of the South" so I will do it here to complete the cycle. Here are Stephen Doughas and John Bell.

 

Stephen Douglas

 

 

and here is John Bell ... This piece was proably issued before the election. The Douglas piece was probably issued after the election.

 

[Just Bob]

Another fabulous group of tokens, Mr. Jones!

[xJack]

Awesome tokens Bill! I never realized some of these were pre-marked for drilling!