Civil War Tokens are tokens that were privately minted in the United States for a brief period of time, during the civil war, to alleviate the problem caused by people hoarding US minted gold, silver, and even copper-nickel cents. Businesses needed to operate during this scarcity, so some began to privately mint tokens. By fall of 1862 they began appearing in circulation. They eventually became banned for use as currency in April 1864 and private production of coinage was banned in the United States by June of 1864. In that short period of time, between the 3 types - store cards, patriotic tokens, and sutler tokens, an estimated 25 million tokens and 7,000 to 8,000 estimated varieties had entered circulation. Although they were banned for usage and minting in 1864, ownership of the coins themselves were found not to be an illegal act, which made them become collectable pieces of our American history. Winner shall receive the exact token shown here.Winner shall receive the exact coin shown here. (JM/UO)