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Howdy ya'll. I might get discouraged but I never give up searching countless thousands of pennies. It might seem like hard times searching and searching... but one day you might really find a "Hard Times" token. This was in a big jar of change that came from a family member. It is an 1863 Hard Times Token (store card). I liked it so much I got it graded. It came back as an MS30 with a rarity of 7. That's all I really know about it. If I understand the rarity chart, a rarity of 7 means there are between 10 and 20 of these known in existence. Anybody out there know the rarity charts? Never give up no matter how hard of a time it is... you never know when the next penny you pick up will make it all worth it.

We must know more! Tell us more of this mystical coin!

Very cool. Thank you for sharing. Many folks on here are struggling for various reasons, such as unemployment, loss of a job to feeling disappointed over Cu yields. Your story is inspirational to us all. Any more info on the coin?

That is pretty awsome

Wow, what a cool find!

Actually, Hard Times tokens were from around the time of Andrew Jackson's administration (1820's-30's maybe?), and were made to be the same size as the larce cent coins of the time. What you have there is called a Civil War Token--similar in purpose, but a different set of books. I can check the rarity charts for you when I get back to my house. If you don't mind, could you post a pic of the coin in the holder with the label visible? I'd be interested in seeing the attribution!

rexmerdinus wrote:Actually, Hard Times tokens were from around the time of Andrew Jackson's administration (1820's-30's maybe?), and were made to be the same size as the larce cent coins of the time. What you have there is called a Civil War Token--similar in purpose, but a different set of books. I can check the rarity charts for you when I get back to my house. If you don't mind, could you post a pic of the coin in the holder with the label visible? I'd be interested in seeing the attribution!

I knew somebody on RC would have some more info . This was graded by a local guy I know from the local coin shows. That's all that it says on the case. I hope you can tell me more about it.

Well, the actual grade with these tokens is often less important to the value than the attribution (i.e. what dies were used). Thousands of different ones were minted, and dies for reverse and obverse were mixed and matched a lot, and sometimes different metals were used as well, so one combination of dies might be R1, while a slightly different die for one or the other, or a composition of brass or lead instead of copper could be R10. The cool thing about this is that new examples of die combinations are still being discovered! The photo of the obverse looks pretty good in your original post. Can you get me a similar one of the reverse? Also, if it turns out to be on the rare side, I'd recommend sending it to PCGS or NGC for professional attribution--I've done this a couple of times myself.

Here is the reverse side. How can I tell what the metal composition is? In the picture the reverse doesn't look like it's rotated incorrectly because I rotated the coin to take the picture , but it is actually rotated 90 degrees from the obverse side. (I hope that 's how to explain it. You know how when you flip a coin over from the obverse to the reverse, the coin should be lined up vertically from the other side)

Not sure, but I don't think obverse and reverse orientation to one another plays much of a roll in these--lots of variation since they were minted my private companies and individuals. I'm at work right now, but I'll delve into my books when I get home.

That is a really cool coin for being 147 years old.

GREAT Find. Hope spring eternal!

SWEET!! Thanks for sharing the pic and info. Love to hear about the success finds on RealCent!!

GGG-

Ok, I checked, and unfortunately the book I have only covers patriotic CWT's, with very litte attention given to store card types. I've got another book loaned out right now, and when it comes back to me I'll see what I can find.

rexmerdinus wrote:GGG-

Ok, I checked, and unfortunately the book I have only covers patriotic CWT's, with very litte attention given to store card types. I've got another book loaned out right now, and when it comes back to me I'll see what I can find.

rexmerdinus wrote:Ok, I checked, and unfortunately the book I have only covers patriotic CWT's, with very litte attention given to store card types. I've got another book loaned out right now, and when it comes back to me I'll see what I can find.

Thanks! I can hardly wait to get some info on this.