(1861-65) Copper Civil War Store Card F-175a-2a, Congdon Brothers MI

Coin Details

Description

Congdon Brothers of Michigan issued this token as emergency currency during the Civil War. Michigan's merchants across numerous cities actively produced tokens to combat the small change shortage affecting Northern commerce. This copper striking (Fuld 175a-2a) is common among the known varieties. Many Civil War tokens share common reverse dies, as die sinkers paired merchant-specific obverses with stock patriotic or advertising reverses. Store cards circulated as emergency currency after wartime hoarding removed federal coins from commercial channels. 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. Civil War store cards are collected both as numismatic items and as historical documents of wartime American commerce.

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 1 cataloged varieties, Congdon Brothers was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 175a-2a