(1861-65) Civil War Store Card F-115-G-1a, Boston; Tuttle's 5 cents MA

Coin Details

Description

Boston; Tuttle�s 5 cents of Massachusetts produced this token as a cent substitute during the wartime coin shortage. Massachusetts was a center of manufacturing and abolitionist sentiment, with Boston and surrounding cities contributing Civil War tokens as emergency currency. Each unique combination of obverse and reverse dies constitutes a separate Fuld catalog number, even when struck in the same metal. The token era ended when Congress authorized new federal small-denomination currency and criminalized private token production in 1864. The federal government's response to the coin shortage included issuing fractional currency in denominations as small as three cents, but these paper notes wore out quickly and were unpopular with merchants. 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 2 cataloged varieties, Boston; Tuttle�s 5 cents was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 115-G