#109-CIVIL WAR SALE: NEW YORK BROAS BAKERS SHATTERED DIE, BOTH SIDES--HIGH GRADE!

Broas is well known--for pretty bad looking Civil War tokens. For a relatively inconsequential New York company, Broas was incredibly prolific with several different tokens. But moreso, the company routinely used their dies until it was impossible to do so any longer. Long after the dies showed weak areas, cuds and eventually problems as you see here, they just carried on!

The obverse die shattered and the cracks are more than obvious here. Interesting, however, is the fact that it is in extremely high grade showing little or no wear.

The reverse is even more interesting. It appears to be doublestruck as you can find elements duplicated; but more, if you look at the lower portion of the surface (approximately 3:00-8:00) you can see the impression of the Indian head dress/ feathers that match the obverse design. Looking further above the word "country" and through the word "one" you can see the rest of the obverse design of the Indian head. Look at the the letter "K" in baker and you can see the small letter "B" which is also part of the obverse die.

But this is not just a clashed die but rather, it appears the reverse was struck with a capped die and that imparted this view of the token's obverse. I have studied Broas' tokens extensively and I have also read many theories about this particular set of dies. The same reverse has shown up many times where the obverse design is NOT the Indian head but the same outline of the Indian are present. This reinvorces the idea that it was struck from a capped die!

We also have listed another Broas token in this sale. This particular token with this group of errors has been seen numerous times over the years and has proven to be in high demand. I assume many collectors find this a very interesting addition to a CWT collection, as I do.