File:Bartholomew & McClelland, Civil War Token, 1863 - Valparaiso, Indiana.jpg

English: BARTHOLOMEW & McCLELLAND

DRY GOODS BOOTS SHOES &C IND. VALPARISO.

UNITED STATES CAPITAL 1863

Date: 1863 Source Type: Civil War token Publisher, Printer, Photographer: Bartholomew & McClelland; token manufactured by Henry Darius Higgins of Mishawaka, Indiana Postmark: Not applicable Collection: Steven R. Shook Remark: Note that Valparaiso is incorrectly spelled as Valpariso on this token.

During the American Civil War, coins issued by the government began to experience a severe decrease in circulation as citizens hoarded coins containing gold, silver, and copper. As a result, transacting business became increasingly difficult as the war progressed. Many merchants therefore contracted to have private minters produce tokens as a proxy for government issued coinage. Today, these tokens are referred to as "store cards."

H. A. Ratterman, of Cincinnati, Ohio, was the first merchant to circulate privately minted tokens during the fall of 1862. The United States Congress, however, banned the usage of non-government issued coins on June 8, 1864, when it enacted 18 U.S.C. § 486; this law made the minting and usage of privately minted coins illegal and punishable by a prison term of up to five years, a fine of up to $2,000, or both.

In Valparaiso, the dry goods merchants Bartholomew & McClelland issued two types of copper tokens. Both types have one side that is nearly identical, reading "BARTHOLOMEW & McCLELLAND - DRY GOODS - VALPARAISO, IND. - BOOTS SHOES &c." One version of the token has a reverse side reading "UNITED STATES CAPITAL 1863" and includes an image of the capitol building in Washington, D.C. and eight stars; note that this misspells Valparaiso as Valpariso.

The other version of the token, which is the rarer of the two, has a reverse side reading "THE FLAG OF OUR UNION 1863" and includes an image of the American flag with a Liberty cap atop the flag pole and thirteen stars.

The capital and flag designs are attributed to Henry Darius Higgins, an optician from Mishawaka, St. Joseph County, Indiana. Higgins was apparently a craftsman. Besides eyeglasses, he produced sinking dies for tokens, barometers, false teeth, and guns. Due to his tokens' homemade appearance, they are commonly referred to today as "Indiana Primitives." Higgins produced tokens for merchants located in northern Indiana and southern Michigan, and they were produced in very limited quantities. As a result, most of Higgins' token are quite scarce.

Artillus V. Bartholomew and Marquis L. McClelland formed a partnership in the dry goods business in Valparaiso in 1862, a partnership that continued for four years when McClelland left the partnership to become the cashier of the First National Bank of Valparaiso. Bartholomew continued in the dry goods business for many years after the dissolution of the partnership, forming a business partnership with Valparaiso residents Stephen Finney and Claus Specht.

This token appears in tokencatalog.com, the premier source for token information.

⦿ Fuld No. IN915A-2a; rarity R6 (20 to 75 examples known to exist) ⦿ Unlisted in Wagaman ⦿ Token Catalog No. 390064

Sources: Blickensderfer, Scott. 2008. Bartholomew & McClelland, Valparaiso, Indiana. The Civil War Token Journal 42(1):11-33.

Fuld, George, and Melvin Fuld. 1975. U.S. Civil War Store Card. Second Edition. Lawrence, Massachusetts: Quarterman Publications, Inc. 615 p.

Wagaman, Lloyd E. 1981. Indiana Trade Tokens. Fairfield, Ohio: Indiana-Kentucky-Ohio Token and Medal Society. 302 p.

TokenCatalog.com

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