(1861-65) Brass Civil War Store Card F-300A-1b, E.S. Barrows WI

Coin Details

Auction Record

$264 UNC Details 09-21-2022 Stack's Bowers

Description

E.S. Barrows of Wisconsin issued this Civil War store card during the 1862-1864 coin shortage. Wisconsin was a growing frontier state with Milwaukee as its largest commercial center, and its merchants issued tokens as practical solutions to the coin shortage. With 3 known varieties, E.S. Barrows produced a modest number of token types. The brass composition of this variety (Fuld 300A-1b) is common to somewhat scarce for this merchant. 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. Brass planchets were readily available to die sinkers, making this a relatively accessible metal variant for collectors. Over 25 million Civil War tokens were produced before Congress ended private coinage in April 1864, making them the largest private coinage movement in American history.

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 3 cataloged varieties, E.S. Barrows was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 300A-1b