1863 Civil War Era Token. Patriotic tokens were privately minted in the early days of the American Civil war, and were used as currency in parts of the country due to an insufficient number of government issued cents. The United States Congress passed a law on April 22, 1864 banning their use. Numismatist George J. Fuld has identified a wide variety of dies used to make these tokens, some with very subtle differences. This example is XF