Help

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Submit any questions you might have to civilwartokens@aol.com.  See the following questions and answers:

Q: How do I change my Username?

A: We will need to do that just email us your current username and the one you would like to use. Username's are published on the site for bidding and purchase history information so you should not use your email address as a username.

Q: I can't seem to get a password to take when registering.

A: Please try again keeping in mind you likely can't use special many characters like ".,@#%!()-+';:" etc.  The password must also be at least 6 characters long.  Finally if your password is "Greens" then "greens" will not work as the password is case sensitive.

Q: Why can't I bid?

A: Try again making sure you are logged in, enter the amount of your bid, click the Submit Bid button and finally confirm the bid on the next page by clicking the Submit button.  If you are still having problems let us know any error messages you might receive.

Q: How do I pay with PayPal?

A: Similar to eBay, you can pay by PayPal by either clicking on the link in the emailed invoice or logging into our site and going to My Accounts then Invoices - Purchase.  After selecting the invoice to pay there will be a PayPal button will be at the top of the invoice. Then you will be asked to log into your PayPal account.

Q: How do I pay with a Credit Card?

A: Currently the only way to use a Credit Card on our site it to go through PayPal and select that potion through their site.

Q: Why was I outbid by less than the bidding increment?

A: Bidders can always bid any amount over the next required bid.  At times this results in a subsequent bidder entering a bid slightly above your secret to bid.  You can click on Bid History to see all the bids and proxy / automated bids.  Bids executed at the exact same time indicate a new bid and the automatic entering of a proxy bid toward the earlier bidders secret high bid. The first bidder wins tie bids and this is one reason people often bid in odd amounts.

Q: What is the purpose of the 15 second rule?

A: Many people do not like the eBay model where people can use sniping computer programs to bid literally at the second with no time for the prior high bidder to respond.  A real live auction does not end at a certain time, they end when the auctioneer does not see any further bidding (going once, going twice, sold).  Snipe programs don't work with our site or, as far as we are aware, any other site aside from eBay.  Our software comes with what they call Snipe Protection which automatically extends the auction if someone bids in the last 15 seconds similar to a real old fashion in person auction.  That is the intent.

Q: Why are some of your coins not slabbed?

A: Many reasons: Cost and storage (we have 1,000's of CWT and 10,000's of other tokens in stock). Slabs are also very difficult to photograph. We are far from professional photographers. Most slabs we have in stock were purchased that way from collectors or other dealers...though we are an authorized NGC and PCGS dealer. In general slabs do not add much value unless the piece is fairly high grade MS64 and above. Paradoxically, in many cases we believe slabs can reduce the value of certain tokens (usually under $200 or so) as a check on completed items on eBay will show. This happens by limiting the market, most non coin people could care less about slabs and in some cases actively avoid them because they don't want to mix and match with what they have or are under the impression that slabs tokens will be too expensive. This is true of the majority of buyers on eBay whether they are Civil War memorabilia collectors, general token collectors or a local history buff. Most serious CWT collectors have 2,000 or so pieces in their collections mostly raw while a coin person dabbling in CWT is likely to have 200 or so pieces mostly slabbed. On numerous occasions a customer will asked me to remove the token from the slab for them. With 12,000 or so varieties made by many different manufacturers of varying skills it is a real challenge to grade consistently and accurately. Unfortunately CAC still does not accept CWT which might help the situation some, but inconsistency would still rule. To date NGC graded around 40,000 CWT's and PCGS has just begun. Over the same time period we have easily sold over twice that many raw pieces. For comparison NGC has graded over 108,000 1924 $20 Gold pieces just in MS64 (325,000 total)...and even on these they take hits for not being consistent. Think of that an average of 4 tokens per variety graded over compared to over 300,000 for just one coin, it is simply impossible to be consistent. Bottom line is unless we made a derogatory comment on Raw token like Detail... or But... it should slab at least the grade we assign...we tend to be conservative. 

FIXED PRICE TERMS

1.  Shipping, handling and insurance is listed on each item with discounts on combined items. Free shipping to those who pay by check, simply send a check for the total before shipping.

2.  Items for deliver within South Carolina must pay 8% for South Carolina sales tax unless a resale number is supplied.  Buyer from other states are responsible for paying any sales / use tax that may be required.

3.  Returns will be accepted on any item incorrectly described at the time of sale or items found not to be genuine.

4.  Items can be paid for by check, money order or PayPal.

AUCTION TERMS

1.  There are NO buyer's fees in this sale.  What you bid is the most you will pay.

2.  Bids are reduced to one increment over the second highest bid.  Bidding increments are: for bids up to $50 the increment is $2, from $50 to $100 the increment is $5, from $100 to $200 the increment is $10, from $200 to $500 the increment is $20, from $500 to $1,000 to the increment is $50, from $1,000 to $2,000 the increment is $100, from $2,000 to $5,000 the increment is $200, from $5,000 to $10,000 the increment is $500 and over $10,000 the increment is $1,000.

3.  Postage and insurance for each lot is specified in the listing with a minimum charge of $4.00 for the first item, additional items will be added at the discounted rate listed. Free shipping to those who pay by check, simply send a check for the total before shipping.

4.  Invoices for delivery within South Carolina must pay 8% for South Carolina sales tax unless a resale number is supplied.  Bidders from other states are responsible for paying any sales / use tax that may be required.

5.  This sale has Live Online Bidding.  You can view and bid on all lots online at civilwartokens.com.  If you plan to bid online you will need to register so don’t delay.  As always let us know if you have any difficulty.  Although the auction is staggered many lots will close within seconds so plan ahead and bid accordingly.

6.  If you choose, you may still bid by Mail, Fax, Phone and Email but those bids should be received at least one day before the closing date of the sale to assure they are properly recorded.  We will enter these bids and act as your agent.  These bids will be reflected in the online bidding with the User Name “xxmailbid”.

7.  Bids for each lot can be entered at any time until that item closes as noted in online description with possible bidding extensions as noted below. There are no hidden reserves all lot are beginning at just $0.99.

8.  Closing times for all lots are automatically extended for 15 seconds if a bid is received within the last 15 seconds. This will continue until no more bids are received on that lot. Items will close sequentially by lot number.

9.  Estimates which appear after the description are only a guide and lots will often be sold above and below those amounts.

10.  Returns will be accepted on any lots incorrectly described, however, since the majority of this material is consigned all sales will be considered final 14 days after lot delivery.

11.  The auctioneer reserves the right to reject any bid or withdraw any lot.

12.    Items can be paid by check or PayPal. Free shipping to those who pay by check, simply send a check for the total before shipping. Credit Card can only be used through PayPal.

13.    Placing a bid in this sale constitutes acceptance of the above terms.