(1850s) Copper Token Rulau Va-18, James E. Wolff VA

Coin Details

Description

Copper merchant token issued by James E. Wolff of Petersburg, Virginia, produced in the 1850s. Wolff (1812-1864) was a wholesale and retail dealer in hats, caps, and furs at No. 17 Sycamore Street in Petersburg. The obverse depicts a top hat above his address, with the text JAMES E. WOLFF / PETERSBURG, VA. The reverse shows a running wolf with WHOLESALE & RETAIL / DEALER IN above and HATS / CAPS, FURS &C below. Wolff distributed these tokens as one-cent advertising pieces, substituting them for U.S. cents whenever possible in customer transactions. A total of 17 die varieties have been documented across copper, brass, tin, and German silver. Virginia merchant tokens from any era before the Civil War are quite scarce, as the Southern states generally produced fewer merchant tokens than the commercial centers of the Northeast. Copper, 26mm, plain edge. This piece is part of the diverse Rulau Miscellaneous series encompassing tokens that fall outside the major thematic categories.

Rarity Notes

Rare. Antebellum Virginia merchant token. Southern merchant tokens from the 1850s are significantly scarcer than their Northern counterparts. James E. Wolff's tokens represent one of only a handful of Virginia merchant token issues cataloged by Rulau for this period.

Cross References

Rulau Va-18; PCGS #966996