USA, Civil War patriotic token, no date

Description

To keep local economies going merchants manufactured millions of 1 cent size tokens in thousands of varieties. They were made illegal about a year after they began to be made.

A token is used like a coin but is not a coin. Rather, it stands for a coin without the value of the coin. Maybe its copper, but says its value is the same as a silver coin. Usually tokens were made privately, but sometimes governments got involved.