(1860) Civil War Store Card F-225A/327a, Shall be Preserved

Coin Details

Auction Record

$80 MS64RB 04-15-2021 Stack's Bowers

Description

Civil War token cataloged as Fuld 225A/327a, combining obverse die 225 — a design inscribed "THE FEDERAL UNION IT MUST AND SHALL BE PRESERVED" — with reverse die 327 bearing the inscription "THE UNION MUST AND SHALL BE PRESERVED". "Federal Union" text dies carried Andrew Jackson's defining declaration of federal supremacy, adapted as a rallying cry for a new generation facing the same existential threat to national unity. This token bears no merchant identification; its dies were paired speculatively by die sinkers for sale to the general public rather than commissioned by a specific merchant. Dated 1860, from the presidential campaign season that preceded the Civil War. New York City produced over half of all Civil War tokens, with additional output from Waterbury, Connecticut (center of the brass industry) and Cincinnati, Ohio.

Rarity Notes

Copper strikings are generally the most common metal variant for Civil War store cards, as copper was the standard planchet material mimicking the federal cent. With 1 cataloged varieties, Shall be Preserved was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 225A/327a