The Civil War placed great stress upon our circulating medium of exchange. For the first time, the United States officially issued unsecured paper money, known as "greenbacks," and an extensive series of fractional currency, referred to as "shinplasters." High inflation followed the outbreak of the war, and in early 1862 people began hoarding gold and silver coins due to the uncertainty of the future. Eventually, the problem of hoarding became so acute that the U.S. Treasury suspended specie payments. This action led to the disappearance of most coins, including the copper-nickel cent, by the end of 1862. Conducting everyday business was nearly impossible. Merchants and their customers, especially in the large cities, experienced great difficulty as there was no way to make change for transactions. They were now forced to find an alternate means of exchange. Most attempts to alleviate pressures revolved around postage stamps and other paper script. Early ventures failed to maintain all parties interest. It wasn't until late 1862, that the emergency money known today as Civil
War tokens (CWTs) first appeared in Cincinnati. These were met with general acceptance by both the merchants and their customers, as people preferred metallic coin to paper or stamps. It is estimated that twenty-five to fifty million tokens were produced. Undoubtedly, the people had found a much-needed source of relief. Furthermore, both the merchants and
diesinkers could make additional profits from these tokens, as they generally offered less than one third of a cent's worth of copper and could offer a variety of choices. Patriotic themes and business advertisements were the main focus areas. Diesinkers could charge a premium to create merchant-specific dies known today as store cards or discount orders byusing stock dies not bearing a specific merchant's name. Eventually, all good things must come to an end. New York's Third Avenue Railroad requested local merchant Gustavus Lindenmueller to redeem a large number of his tokens that they had accepted during the course of business. Lindenmueller refused and the railroad saw no other option but to involve the Federal Government. In 1864, an act of Congress made it illegal for private businesses or individuals to issue any kind of money,
thus bringing the production of Civil War tokens to an end.

The coin collecting community largely neglected Civil War tokens until the Civil War centennial. Since then, interest has grown considerably. No one has ever put together a complete collection of all known Civil War Tokens and it is doubtful that anyone ever will. Thus, they are collected in a number of different ways. Patriotics are most often collected by die, die
combination, or theme. Store cards are collected primarily by merchant's information. The state and town origin takes precedence, followed by merchant occupation and themes. The vast majority of Civil War tokens were struck in copper, however examples struck in brass, copper-nickel, white metal, silver, lead, German silver, and even rubber are known. Most business strikes are in copper or brass, while others are primarily considered contemporary collector strikes A number of tokens have plating of copper, silver, zinc, tin, or gold. There are also known examples of tokens struck over dimes, cents, and other tokens of the day. Many diesinkers who produced Civil War tokens were skilled craftsmen who were meticulous in their work, while others produced crude and careless tokens. Besides spelling errors in the token's legends, pieces can often be found exhibiting errors such as brockages, clips, off-center strikes, cuds die breaks, misaligned or rotated dies, and multiple strikes. Civil War tokens are assigned a rarity rating determined by their level of scarcity. A ten-point rarity scale—devised by George and Melvin Fuld—is used to denote this. Some varieties exist in quantities exceeding 5000 known examples (R-l), while others are known as unique (R-IO). In 1967, The Civil War Token Society was founded to promote, stimulate and advance the study of Civil War tokens. A non-profit organization, the Society's activities include the publication of a quarterly journal, which contains articles and news related to Civil War tokens, as well as auctions where members may consign or bid on CWTs. In addition, a reference library and a token attribution service are provided. Elections for the
Society's officers and board of governors are held annually. A general member meeting is held each year at the ANA convention.  - Valley Forge Coins