Expert: Joe Hylas - 11/19/2009

Question
It is a 1863 coin. looks like a penny but does not say one cent. It has an indian head on the front and has 13 stars curved over the top of it. And on the back it does not say one cent. It say this in this exact order
" M.H.CLARK
        DRY
     GOODS
 HARDWARE
      BOOTS
          &
      SHOES
CLARKSTON,MICH.

I dont what it is or how much its worth.
I sent some other guy a message on a different site and he told me that i have a " private issue civil war token from 1863. I want to get a couple of peoples opinions on this coin i have.
If you could please get back to me i would greatly appreciate it.    
 

                                                                                                                            Thanks  

Answer
Hello Daman,
These are known as "Hard Times Tokens".  Small change was in limited supply in the Civil War years.  Hence, merchants struck their own tokens that could be used for commercial purposes as well as advertising their business.
These normally trade for $8-15.  However, some of them can be scarce and bring higher prices.

Regards
Joe Hylas
www.AllCoins.US