need help on a token?

[Chris1]

Found a token today with an indian on the front and dated 1863, on the back it says Collins bro's, drugists, parris ILL. Any help would be great. I also found a nice 1853 half dime.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Chris; it was common during the CW years for merchants to restamp the back of an IH penny with their name. Sutlers would do this and usually have the Regiment they were attached to embossed along with their name. Yours would fall under medicine/pharmacy and is one I'm unfamiliar with, but a good find as it crosses the civil war/drug store collectables. I'm sure someone can ID this for you, or you may find it listed on the Internet. Do a search for civil war tokens. Good hunting, David @ Dixie

 

[tokenterry]

Hey Chris1-

Nice finds. Your token is a Civil War token and it is a storecard (advertises a business). The other group of Civil War tokens are known as "patriotics". At any rate, your token is listed in the text "US Civil War Store Cards" by George & Melvin Fuld (1975) as being from Paris Illinois and is either a rarity R5 (between 75 and 100 known) or an R7 (between 10 -20 known). There are two varieties with an Indian Head dated 1863. Neat! Happy hunting!