(1861-65) Civil War Store Card F-600E-10a, TN

Coin Details

Description

Stockman & Co. of Tennessee issued this Civil War store card during the 1862-1864 coin shortage. Tennessee was divided during the Civil War. Nashville fell to Union forces in 1862, and merchants in Union-controlled areas issued tokens as emergency small change. The 12 cataloged varieties for Stockman & Co. indicate a notable level of token production. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 600E-10a) is common for this merchant. Token manufacturers struck pieces by the thousands, using hand-fed screw presses capable of producing several hundred tokens per hour. Civil War tokens addressed a practical problem: the wartime disappearance of federal small change made daily transactions nearly impossible without private substitutes. 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 12 cataloged varieties, Stockman & Co. was a notable token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 600E-10a