(1861-65) Copper Civil War Store Card F-765F-5a, W.A. Gildenfenney PA

Coin Details

Auction Record

$55 MS63BN 05-29-2019 Stack's Bowers

Description

W.A. Gildenfenney, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, produced this token as a cent substitute during the wartime coin shortage. Pennsylvania was the Union's industrial heartland, with Philadelphia as a manufacturing center and Pittsburgh as an iron and steel producer. W.A. Gildenfenney issued 7 die varieties, more than most Civil War merchants. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 765F-5a) 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. Between 1862 and 1864, Northern merchants produced millions of private tokens to compensate for the disappearance of federal coinage. 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 7 cataloged varieties, W.A. Gildenfenney was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 765F-5a