Little is known about John Grether. In late 1862 or early 1863 he opened a china shop at 134 S. High St., the present site of the new addition to the Fifth Third Bank Building.

Unlike many merchants of the day, he did not live above his store, residing instead at 46 E. Rich St., a few blocks away.

Grether was a Union man in a city that was bitterly divided by the Civil War. A Copperhead candidate carried the city in the 1863 gubernatorial election.

Alone among Columbus issuers of Civil War tokens, Grether signed a pledge printed in the newspaper to close his store on election day 1863 in an attempt to get out the vote.

His main competitor appears to have been C. T. Pfaff, who kept shop at 259 S. High St. Pfaff advertised extensively in several of the city's eight English and German language newspapers.

Grether, in contrast, rarely advertised, except during the Christmas season. In 1863 his holiday ads alerted the public to the fact that he also carried coal oil for lighting and Christmas toys.

In aggregate, Grether's pieces are the rarest Columbus Civil War tokens. Rarity estimates suggest only 63 to 158 are extent.

Grether's tokens are the only reeded-edge Columbus tokens, the only Columbus tokens struck by John Stanton of Cincinnati and the only Columbus tokens to have a spelling error.

Misspelled word on Grether token

The word "importer" is spelled with an extra "or" on a trio of R-9 (2 to 4 tokens known) Grether pieces.

Stanton, a Cincinnati stamp cutter, produced Civil War tokens for numerous Midwestern merchants.

Before the Civil War, Stanton's main business was producing railroad, steamboat and hotel baggage checks and agricultural society prize medals.

1859 Stanton advertisement