Coin Collector Guide

In 1862, many Americans, especially in the Midwestern and Northern states began responding to the hoarding of gold, silver, and nickel by using private minters.

Private tokens were made and since there was no real regulation on the use of other coinage outside of the United States Mint, the storekeepers and businesses began accepting these bronze coins.

Until the end of the war, these coins were used and it is thought that there were over 25,000,000 of these one cent private coins minted by 1864.

The Coinage Act of 1864

One Cent Private Token

The minting of private coins or tokens ended with the passing of the Coinage Act of 1864. This stopped the manufacture of one and two cent small tokens that had been being used in the place of coins originating from the Philadelphia Mint.

A further amendment passed a few months later made it illegal to use private tokens as currency.

It was not against the law to own them however, and many of them remain in coin collections passed down through generations.

They are considered collectible even though they are not rare.

Limited Production and Civil War Era Hoarding

One thing that was noted when the private coins were made was that the weight was much easier to carry.

This led to the Indian Head Cent switching to a mostly copper composition, also known as bronze.

Sutler Token

This brought the end to the nickel cent, also known as the “white” cent due to its silver-white color.

Because of their limited production as well as their significance to the Civil War hoarding, these coins are considered highly collectible.

Pre-Revolutionary War Private Mint

Written by Angela Sangster, Copyright 2011 CoinCollectorGuide.com

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