(1861-65) Civil War Store Card F-165BWa-2a, Hill OH

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card issued by Hill of Ohio. 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. With 3 known varieties, Hill produced a modest number of token types. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 165BWa-2a) is common 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. 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 3 cataloged varieties, Hill was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 165BWa-2a