During the Civil War, pennies were rare because of the wartime demand for metals. In the Northeast and Midwest, private parties minted tokens to fill the demand (which the Federal Government hated and banned in 1864). Here is a Washington Market exchange token from that era featuring a magnificent turkey on the obverse (with vegetables and a mildly subversive “live and let live” motto on the flip side). I am running out of things to say about turkeys, but looking back at this tiny slice of our numismatic past is a good way to enter the Thanksgiving season, and we’ll see if we can find one more good post about the noble sacrificial birds before the great feast. Gobble gobble! Enjoy your plentiful pennies and let’s kep the country unified!
ferrebeekeeper 
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January 15, 2022 at 9:19 PM
Richard Portman
I am writing from the future. 2022. That is an awesome coin. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could adapt that design and use it for our 1 cent coins?