United States. US Civil War - Gustavus Lindenmueller. One Cent Token 1863 (No Reserve Price) ******************************************* Gustavus Lindenmueller of New York City is a legendary figure to collectors of Civil War tokens. Standard works on these tokens invariably draw attention to him in their introductory comments. For example, Hetrich and Guttag in their classic 1924 catalog describe how New York City began issuing such tokens: In the Spring of 1863 New York followed [Cincinnati’s] example. The first [token] to be made in New York was the Lindenmueller currency ... These little coins filled the wants of the trades-people, and were accepted as a means of exchange for the value, which usually was one cent. They undoubtedly were a source of great relief and convenience, but their irresponsible character soon attracted the attention of the Federal authorities. It is said that the Third Avenue Railroad of New York requested Lindenmueller to redeem a large number of his tokens, which they had accepted in the course of business, but this he laughingly refused to do. The railroad had no redress, and it is not improbable that incidents of this character forced the Government to put a stop to their issue. This was done by the passage of an act of Congress in 1864, forbidding private individuals to issue any form of money. credit above http://www.cwtsociety.com/AOTM/feb2011.shtml