Gonna be a hard one, but what is this coin ???

[Gribnitz]

At first I thought it was an Indian head cut in half, but it has stars around the front. You can see some stars, and one star at one of points of what I thought was the indian head dress. It also seems a little smaller than an Indian head should be. What is this??!

 

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[EDDE]

1877 indian

 

[leddel]

i see a few in my token book (fuld/moore patriotic civil war tokens ) wish i could give you a pic. theres a lot of variations ,types of heads , number of stars , 1861to 1863 but very similar to an indian head penny . sorry i couldn't help more del

 

[BuckleBoy]

Right on, leddel!

 

[diggummup]

Here's one I sold recently,it's a "storecard" version.Like leddel stated,there are many different forms and variations.This one has no stars ,instead it has a business name.Yours is a "patriotic" version,probably had a logo on the back such as "God Protect the Union" or "ArmyNavy" or something similar.Good ID leddel!

 

[diggummup]

Here's one closer to yours on Ebay right now.

 

[PBK]

Dig nailed it! Great call... as always!

 

[diggummup]

Actually leddel nailed it,I was just following up with a little more info..

 

[PBK]

Actually leddel nailed it,I was just following up with a little more info..

Ooops!

Apologies to Leddel— and kudos as well!

Thanks, Dig!

 

[Gribnitz]

Here's one closer to yours on Ebay right now.

Woohoo, thats it ! Thanks guys, I was looking for an american coin. Why in the world would they hole a token ? They couldn't spend it on anything could they ?

 

[diggummup]

Sure! They could be spent during the Civil War.During the war,regular US coinage was hoarded by the Gov.and citizens alike,restricting a merchants ability to make small change.Some merchants had tokens made up to give out as change in thier stores.The least expensive ones were called "Patriotic tokens" and came in 2 existing die forms,usually Patriotic in nature or similar to the Indian cent that was in circulation at that time.If you had a few extra bucks to spend you could get one or two custom dies made for you, with your store name, address and such.These were called "Store cards."As for the hole that was put in yours,it was probably done so it could be worn as a pendant.Hope this helps.

 

[Wheezy]

I was going to suggest a "half penny"

 

[TreasureTales]

You guys are brilliant. I've never before seen a storecard version of an IH. Interesting, educational, and fascinating...that's what this forum is.

I tip my hat to you.

 

[Gribnitz]

I was going to suggest a "half penny"

Nah, found a half cent that day too....also with a hole. They are a lot bigger, about a nickel in size. See this link..
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,62611.0.html

 

[TreasureTales]

Does anybody know when/what time period the practice of holing coins was popular? Was it a CW era fad?

 

[EDDE]

 

[diggummup]

Does anybody know when/what time period the practice of holing coins was popular? Was it a CW era fad?

It was popular with half dimes during that time,from what i've just read.Check this out,scroll down a bit to the article on the right,USA COIN ALBUM "The last Half Dimes" by David W.Lang-http://www.ngccoin.com/news/enews//ngc_enews_0509sep.htm
Good question though,I think there were many reasons coins got holed.Sometimes the indians would string them together to be worn as a status symbol or something,sometimes gypsies would hole them to make jewelry,sometimes soldiers would hole them to make use as a button,I think people used to nail a coin to thier new homes or cabin for good luck or something.Anybody else?

 

[TreasureTales]

Does anybody know when/what time period the practice of holing coins was popular? Was it a CW era fad?

It was popular with half dimes during that time,from what i've just read.Check this out,scroll down a bit to the article on the right,USA COIN ALBUM "The last Half Dimes" by David W.Lang-http://www.ngccoin.com/news/enews//ngc_enews_0509sep.htm
Good question though,I think there were many reasons coins got holed.Sometimes the indians would string them together to be worn as a status symbol or something,sometimes gypsies would hole them to make jewelry,sometimes soldiers would hole them to make use as a button,I think people used to nail a coin to thier new homes or cabin for good luck or something.Anybody else?

Thank you diggumup. Interesting article. Maybe the West Indies is the place to find lots of half dimes. The article said many of them were shipped there since they were not so popular here. Fascinating what I learn on TNet from helpful TNet members...thanks again.