(1850) Token MillerAla-28, J.S. Sylvester & Co. AL

Coin Details

Description

J.A. Sylvester & Co. (sometimes cited as J.S. Sylvester) were tailors and clothiers in Selma, Alabama. Their token (Miller Ala-28) is one of the very few merchant tokens from the Deep South. Selma was an important commercial center in the Alabama Black Belt, the state's primary cotton-producing region. Alabama's economy was overwhelmingly agricultural, dominated by cotton cultivation, and its commercial centers were smaller than those of the Northeast, making merchant tokens from the state among the rarest in the Miller catalog. Struck in copper, this token matched the federal large cent in appearance and weight, making it immediately recognizable to the public. Copper remained the dominant planchet choice for merchant tokens throughout the antebellum and Civil War periods. The Miller reference catalog, compiled by Donald M. Miller, remains the standard numismatic reference for American merchant store cards and provides the definitive numbering system used by collectors and auction houses.

Rarity Notes

Copper striking, the standard metal for merchant tokens of this period.