NEW BOOK: A GUIDE BOOK OF CIVIL WAR TOKENS

Whitman Publishing announces the release of A Guide Book of Civil War Tokens, by Q. David Bowers. The 448-page book debuted at the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money in Chicago, August 13, 2013. Bowers autographed copies at the Whitman Publishing booth and presented the book at the Civil War Token Society meeting on August 15. A Guide Book of Civil War Tokens is now available online (including at www.Whitman.com) and from bookstores and hobby shops nationwide. Its retail price is $24.95.

Civil War tokens are small cent–sized tokens, mostly of copper or brass, that were issued by private firms to serve as emergency “money” during the small-change shortage of 1862 to 1865. As the military conflict dragged on, Americans hoarded any gold, silver, and eventually even copper U.S. coins they received in change, keeping them as hedges against wartime economic uncertainty. Civil War tokens, privately issued by hundreds of merchants and organizations and minted in the millions, were used as substitutes for hoarded “pennies” to make change for small purchases. Today these tokens are highly collectible, with values generally ranging from $15 for common, circulated pieces to more than $15,000 for rarities.

Bowers, widely regarded as the “Dean of American Numismatics,” wrote A Guide Book of Civil War Tokens with the cooperation of the Civil War Token Society, the American Numismatic Society, the Token and Medal Society, the American Numismatic Association, and other leading organizations, museums, libraries, collectors, dealers, and researchers. The book includes more than 2,000 full-color images, plus values in multiple grades, rarity ratings, detailed historical background, a study of how Civil War tokens were manufactured, ways to collect them, identification of unusual varieties, and information on the potential for valuable new discoveries. It covers both patriotic tokens and “store cards” (merchant advertising tokens). Much of the information has never been published in book form. Nearly every known die is described in both pictures and text.

“The Guide Book of Civil War Tokens is a unique reference,” said Whitman publisher Dennis Tucker. “It is the only modern price guide to Civil War tokens on the market today. The cover price of $24.95 is about what a single average copper token costs in Very Fine condition. With that small investment a reader will become an expert on Civil War tokens.” Speaking at a “Money Talks” presentation with Bowers at the ANA 2013 World’s Fair of Money, Tucker called the book “absolutely essential for dealers, collectors, and appraisers.”

“No book on how to collect Civil War tokens has ever been as thorough,” said Dr. George Fuld, a published expert in the field. “I expect that it will be a standard reference for years to come.” Fred Reed, another expert on Civil War money and editor of the Token and Medal Society Journal, said, “Every collector of this series will esteem this volume, and every historian or serious writer on the Civil War should consult its colorful pages in the future.”

A Guide Book of Civil War Tokens
Volume 16 in the Bowers Series
By Q. David Bowers
Foreword by Fred L. Reed
Reminiscence by Dr. George Fuld
ISBN 0794824536
448 pages
6 x 9 inches, softcover
Full color
Retail $24.95

Wayne Homren, Editor

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