(1860) Copper Civil War Store Card F-150I-4a, A. Candler IL

Coin Details

Description

Merchant token from A. Candler of Chicago, Illinois, cataloged as Fuld 150I-4a. Chicago was one of the fastest-growing cities in the world by 1860, rapidly becoming America's railroad hub and grain trading center with a population of 112,000. With 4 known varieties, A. Candler produced a modest number of token types. This copper striking (Fuld 150I-4a) is common among the known varieties. Token production was a specialized trade — die sinkers maintained catalogs of stock dies that merchants could pair with custom obverses. Congress banned private token issuance in April 1864, but before that, tokens like this one circulated freely as cent substitutes in Northern commerce. Many Civil War tokens survive in high grades because merchants and the public saved them as novelties, resulting in a better average preservation than contemporary federal coins.

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 4 cataloged varieties, A. Candler was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 150I-4a