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Civil War Tokens
 The American Civil War was one of the bloodiest periods in U.S. history, and one of the
richest numismatically.
Americans, concerned about the outcome of the conflict, hoarded coinage to the point
where little was in circulation. Private merchants, faced with a shortage of change,
commissioned private minters to strike tokens that served as cent substitutes. Two forms
of Civil War tokens exist -
store cards and
patriotics.
The store cards are the metallic equivalent of the modern cardboard business card,
bearing an advertising message. Patriotics bear images such as flags, eagles and military
heroes, but no advertising messages.
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