Civil War tokens were always close to the front burner. I started my work as publisher at Whitman Publishing in 2004. A Dynamic New Publishing Era for Civil War Tokens Reed with his first book on Abraham Lincoln in numismatics, Abraham Lincoln: The Image of His Greatness, at the 2010 ANA World’s Fair of Money. Reed with his first book on Abraham Lincoln in numismatics, Abraham Lincoln: The Image of His Greatness, at the 2010 ANA World’s Fair of Money.įred L. It would be the first of many dozens – most of them best-sellers and standard references.įred L. Over the years the standard references by the Fulds were updated and revised in various new editions.īowers wrote his first book, Coins and Collectors, in 1964. Numismatists published articles in Numismatic News, Coin World, and other popular periodicals. Research into Civil War tokens continued, along with the study of encased postage stamps, Confederate currency, and other aspects of wartime money. (Beyond numismatics, Reinfeld was a brilliant chess player who introduced generations of players to the game through his beginner-level instruction books.)
Reed would later credit Reinfeld’s book for capturing his imagination. Civil War Store Cards, produced by Whitman Publishing.įred Reinfeld’s 93-page The Story of Civil War Money (Sterling Publishing Co., 1959), although not comprehensive, piqued further interest among history buffs. In the early 1960s the Fulds brought into the world the books Patriotic Civil War Tokens and U.S. Young George had grown up from student to teacher, and he and his father researched and wrote about Civil War tokens through the 1950s. and his father Melvin, by that time well established as experts in the field.
#CIVIL WAR TOKENS PLUS#
Bowers recalls how his education in the field came from a single volume published more than 30 years earlier (Civil War Tokens and Tradesmen’s Cards, by George Hetrich and Julius Guttag, 1924), plus the occasional article in The Numismatist and other periodicals, auction-lot descriptions, and, importantly, the personal guidance of hobby mentors.Īmong the latter Bowers counted the research team of Fuld and Fuld – son George J. David Bowers was just getting started as a numismatic force of nature, the hobby’s literature on Civil War tokens was still thinner than Abraham Lincoln, and nowhere near as tall – though just as fascinating. That was the extent of the overview in the earliest editions of the Red Book.īy the 1960s, with a new boom of interest in all things numismatic, that coverage would be expanded with more narrative and a type-table list of values by metallic composition. A large majority of the Civil War tokens are about the same size as the present day one-cent piece.”
Some 15,000 different varieties have been discovered, all of which are more or less common.
“These are either of political or advertising nature. “During the Civil War small coin was hoarded by the public and millions of privately coined tokens were placed in circulation,” the Red Book informed its readers. Civil War tokens made the grade, but without much fanfare, being tucked into a few sentences on page 250 (of 256).
#CIVIL WAR TOKENS SERIES#
Inclusion in the so-called “Red Book” meant a die variety or a series was part of the established numismatic world. First published in 1946, the Guide Book quickly became the most popular annual reference in the hobby, and its contents carried great weight. Fuld in 1966, at that time already well known as a Civil War token expert.Īt the time, these tokens were mentioned – but just barely – in the Guide Book of United States Coins, Whitman Publishing’s retail price catalog and numismatic history book.