A Spurious Coin

November 23, 2009 10:06 AM

Numismatists: what is this coin/token thingy? It was found inside the wall of a late 18th/early 19th century rowhouse in the Seton Hill neighborhood of Baltimore.
posted by GodricVT to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (6 answers total)

Best answer: What size is it? The positioning of the eagle immediately made me think of a Hard Times Token, but the lack of lettering might refute that.
posted by ktrey at 10:37 AM on November 23, 2009

The pics in ktrey's link look more like the eagle on your pic than any other eagle coins I've seen. I'd wager that someone made a love token out of one of those. That's the best answer I can come up with anyway, but I'm not really a numismatist. :-)
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 10:53 AM on November 23, 2009

I'll look in the front of my Red Book when I get home and report back...
posted by deezil at 11:07 AM on November 23, 2009

Response by poster: That might well be it! It's a little smaller than a dime in diameter and thickness, and is smooth around the edge.
posted by GodricVT at 12:02 PM on November 23, 2009

Nothing in in the Red Book which has a lot of the early American coinage.
posted by deezil at 7:36 PM on November 23, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks for checking deezil. Got the following from Rod Gillis at ANA:

"The coin is either a hard times token or a civil war token. It is interesting that the reverse does not have an inscription inside of the wreath. Most unusual. My guess is that the eagle design harkens back to before the Civil War so I tend to think it is more likely a Hard Times Token of some sort."

Thanks for the help everyone!
posted by GodricVT at 6:55 AM on November 24, 2009