The E-Sylum:  Volume 6, Number 35, August 31, 2003, Article 6

PERKINS PENNIES

  NBS Secretary-Treasurer William David Perkins writes:
  "I have been writing a series of articles on Detroit Civil War
  Storecard tokens for the Civil War Token Journal.  My
  great-great grandfather, Wm. Perkins, Jr. issued two of these
  tokens.  These tokens are classified and listed in George and
  Melvin Fuld's book U.S. Civil War Store Cards, however,
  very little is known about the majority of the issuers of these
  tokens. I often utilize genealogical sources in my research,
  often with much success.

  The following information came from a relative of the issuer
  of the Fuld (classification number) MI 225CF token - VENN
  & WREFORD / BUTCHERS / 271 / JEFF. / AVE. / DETROIT.
  The source of this information is unknown (most likely a
  newspaper or a book).  This came from a direct relative of
  Wm. Wreford and was listed by him under the heading, "LIFE
  OF WREFORD IS LINKED WITH DETROIT'S EARLY
  DAYS."  It is always interesting to come across information
  on how coins (and tokens) circulated in the 19th century, in
  this case the 1860s.  I found the following most interesting:

  Coined Pennies (sic, apologies to those who prefer Cents...).
  "During the Civil War when pennies became scarce and the
  small change was being made by means of postage stamps, he
  and a relative [Venn - author] coined their own pennies.  They
  were known as the Venn and Wreford pennies and in later
  years he bought some of them back, paying as high as a dollar
  for some of them.  They were in general circulation here
  [Detroit] during the war."

  This relative sent me a treasure trove of information on
  Wreford and Venn, to the tune of over $2.00 postage on the
  envelope!  I learned of this relative from the General Manager
  at Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit many years ago.  After
  learning that this Wm. Wreford was a direct descendant of the
  token issuer and that he had a specimen of the token, I
  managed to locate this relative via GenForum, an Internet
  genealogy forum. We have corresponded for some time now,
  and I have shared other information that I had from my
  research with him.

  Like William Wreford, This William (David) Perkins is
  buying back the "Perkins pennies," those issued of William
  Perkins, Jr., but for a little more than a dollar each...."

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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