A coin that's not a coin

[jtryka]

Here is a neat little Civil War Token that I found in my safe deposit box when I was home last week:

[EVillageProwler]

Jeff,

 

You say that you found it? Well, I recently lost mine, and it looks exactly like the one you found. I lost it in a bank in Issaquah, WA. I think the one you found is actually mine.

 

Please hold onto it for me until I get to the Portland show. You can return my lost friend to me then!

 

EVP

 

[jtryka]

Well EVP, if you are going to get in the habit of losing coins in my safe deposit box, I can suggest a few that I would rather find on my next visit, like a nice bust dollar!

[EVillageProwler]

I would get into a habit of losing coins; I just want the one I already lost to be returned. Thanks!

 

EVP

 

[keithdagen]

Jeff,

 

You say that you found it? Well, I recently lost mine, and it looks exactly like the one you found. I lost it in a bank in Issaquah, WA. I think the one you found is actually mine.

 

Please hold onto it for me until I get to the Portland show. You can return my lost friend to me then!

 

EVP

 

Hmm,

 

EVP, the Gobrecht dollar you're using as an icon across the street looks amazingly like one I misplaced a while back. Be sure and bring it with you to FUN so I can get it back from you. Thanks for taking such good care of it for me.

[EVillageProwler]

Keith,

 

The image of that Gob is of your coin; I took a pic of it *before* you lost it, and I never had the coin.

 

Sorry, but you're SOL here!

 

EVP

 

[TomB]

Was it hammered and flatened at one time?

[jtryka]

Tom, I am not sure, it is a very thin coin, but that is my impression of how most of these tokens were made, they were hand stamped from small and often thin pieces of metal. Perhaps someone with more experience with civil war tokens can chime in.

[TomB]

I asked because I have seen many CWTs and none looked like that. They are usually nearly the size and thickness of a contemporary cent. The dentils and design elements looked to have been pushed down, not like they were never raised. The piece even looks somewhat bent. All this, of course, could simply be an optical illusion since I have never seen the token in hand.

[jtryka]

No Tom, your assessment is correct, and I think this token was smashed at one time, who knows why. Maybe it found its way to a UCV meeting at some time. It almost has the appearance of a penny put on a railroad track.

[EVillageProwler]

Jeff,

 

When I "lost" this CWT, it was not all mushed. You owe me a new, better specimen to replace the one you damaged!

 

 

EVP