Rebecca writes: My dad has a coin dated 1863. On the front is “For public accommodation” and on the back is “Knickerbocker currency”. Do you have any idea what this coin is and where it was used?
This is another example of tokens that were created as a result of the coin shortage during the Civil War. Food Stores, restaurants, hardware stores and public houses (hotels) created these to use as small change during the coin shortage of the Civil War period. The tokens included advertising to dissuade the government from accusing the makers of counterfeiting.
Civil War tokens are fun to collect. There is large number to choose from. You can collect by type such as kind of establishment and locale. They come from an important era in American History.
Civil War “store cards” or tokens
