CWTS Article of the Month!

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    There are at least two facts about the Civil War store cards of Central New
York which need an update: the first, is that Utica, New York "...was the only
town in the central New York area to have Civil War tokens.'  The second is
that the store cards of M.L. Marshall are '...an interesting item from the Finger Lakes Region.

    Oswego, New York, the city from which the merchant tokens and store cards of M.L. Marshall were issued is located on Lake Ontario and describes
itself as 'the Port City of Central New York'.  Marshall, who was the proprietor
of a fishing tackle and coin shop, issued Merchant tokens NY 1007-10 dated
1860 and CWSC 695A 1 and 2 in 1862 and 1863 respectively.

     NY 695A- 1 is a 29 mm token which is a bit large for a store card and it
replicates his merchant design of 1860.  The obverse shows what the Fulds
describe as a fisherman "... dressed in heavy Winter clothing including a pair of earmuffs.  Central New York fishermen friends of mine, familiar with the
fishing around Lake Ontario, think differently about this description.  The
figure, a man, is most likely bait- casting, standing on the bank of a river or
stream with the other shore and evergreen trees in the background.  He is
using a two-handed cane rod with wooden butt.  He is dressed in a long woolen
coat with high socks and (hopefully) waterproofed shoes.  Charles Waterman
tells us that this was the ".. traditional dress of the classical fly fisherman of
the era."  Could this be a self -portrait?  And, if one examines the store card
carefully, it seems as if he has been successful.

    This store card, rated by Fuld as an R-6, is hard to come by.  In the few
years that I have been concentrating on the store cards of my state, I have
only seen one for sale.

    "Blunt" Marshall's second store card issue NY 695A-2 is a smaller,
traditional size card and is rated as an R -1.  It is fairly common in E.F.
condition.  This token is the one that tells us that by 1863, he was in the coin
business.  The obverse depicts a fish, which given an allowance for artistic
perspective, resembles a salmon.

    We find the obverse muled with a store card from New York City
NY630CH-4a (Thomas White) definitely not a Central New York issue.  It is
rated R-9.  If I came upon this token all by itself and saw that Oswego, N.Y.
was the only place name on it, would I think that it belonged in New York
City?  My token collecting experience tells me that it must have been struck
for collector's, and if I did come across one I'd be glad to have it.

    So it would seem that the tokens of Utica are not the only ones issued
from the Central New York area.  Nor is Oswego a Finger Lakes town.
Together with his merchant token issues, the store cards of M.L. Marshall are handsome, accurate and well executed additions to the exonumia of Central
New York and the hobby overall.