View All Civil War Store Cards - Location Unknown

(1861-65) Brass Civil War Store Card F-LU-M-1b, Robin's Garden

Strike Type

Coin Details

Year

1861

Denomination

Store Cards

Strike Type

Regular Strike

Series

Civil War Store Cards

Designer

Various private die sinkers including John Stanton, William Bridgens, and others

Composition

Copper

Weight

4.5g

Diameter

19mm

Description

Civil War token cataloged as Fuld LU-M-1b, featuring Robin's Garden. This token carries a Location Unknown "LU" Fuld designation, indicating a specific issuer in an unidentified location. Struck in brass, a copper-zinc alloy that gave the token a golden appearance while maintaining similar size and weight to copper pieces. Bearing the date range 1861-65, covering the years of the wartime coin shortage. Token production peaked in 1863, when the shortage was most acute. Americans had hoarded federal coins since the suspension of specie payments in December 1861. The coin shortage of 1862-1864 affected virtually every retail transaction in the Northern states, as hoarding removed silver and copper coins from circulation faster than the U.S. Mint could replace them. Estimates of Civil War token output run from 25 million (Fuld) to about 50 million (CWTS), struck before Congress banned private tokens in 1864.