Bidspirit auction | Tompkins Brass Ambrotype Token

Tompkins Brass Ambrotype Token - Brass Ambrotype token for A. Tompkins Photograph & Ambrotype Gallery Grand Rapids Mich. Reverse side has an eagle, UNION, and 1863. In good condition with plain edge. Measures 0.75” in diameter. See photos. The Tompkins Gallery was a prominent 1860s Civil War-era photography studio located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, operated by brothers Joseph H. Tompkins and Ira G. Tompkins. Originally moving from Buffalo, New York, the brothers opened a photographic gallery on Monroe Street (opposite Waterloo) before subsequently relocating their operations to Canal Street. Joseph H. Tompkins worked as a photographer in Grand Rapids from 1860 to 1876. During the Civil War, the gallery heavily produced cartes de visite. They famously captured portraits of local Union soldiers, including members of the 3rd Michigan Infantry and 5th Michigan Infantry. Due to severe coin shortages during the Civil War, the Tompkins Gallery issued its own copper 1863 merchant trade tokens. From the Allen Koenigsberg collection.