(1861-65) Civil War Store Card F-165-FN-11d, F-OH-165-FN-11d Cincinnati; Shafer/Consulere OH

Coin Details

Description

Merchant token from F-OH-165-FN-11d Cincinnati; Shafer/Consulere of Ohio, cataloged as Fuld 165-FN. The breadth of Ohio's Civil War token production reflects the state's diverse economy, from Cincinnati's river trade to Cleveland's Lake Erie shipping to interior manufacturing towns. Each unique combination of obverse and reverse dies constitutes a separate Fuld catalog number, even when struck in the same metal. Between 1862 and 1864, Northern merchants produced millions of private tokens to compensate for the disappearance of federal coinage. The Act of April 22, 1864 effectively ended private coinage by imposing penalties of up to five years imprisonment and a $2,000 fine for producing unauthorized coins or tokens. The Fuld catalog documents thousands of distinct die combinations for Civil War store cards, making this one of the most complex series in American numismatics.

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 21 cataloged varieties, F-OH-165-AO-6a Cincinnati; Ferguson/1068 was a moderately active token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 165-FN