Definition: Coin tokens are coin-like, sometimes quasi-monetary items that usually look similar to coins, but were not issued by a legal government minting authority. Coin tokens include items such as arcade tokens (used to play games in an arcade), commemorative "coins" issued by private mints in base metals, hard times tokens, (issued during the period from 1834-1844 by private merchants, companies, and banks to fill the need for token coinage during a national banking crisis), Civil War tokens (issued by companies, merchants, and banks to fill the need for token coinage during the U.S. Civil War), and many, many other types of non-official, coin-like objects that fit into the generic (non-numismatic) definiton of "coins."
See also: Token Coinage
See also: Token Coinage
Examples: Collecting coin tokens is a popular form of exonumia.
