(1861) Copper Civil War Store Card F-150J-5a, Child's IL

Coin Details

Description

Store card of Child's, Die Sinker & Engraver in Chicago, Illinois, struck during the 1862-1864 token era. Chicago's explosive growth as a railroad and commodity trading center made it Illinois' primary source of Civil War store cards. Child's, Die Sinker & Engraver produced 21 cataloged die varieties, reflecting a substantial token operation. This copper striking (Fuld 150J-5a) is common among the known varieties. 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. The cent-sized format was chosen deliberately to match the federal Indian Head cent, the coin most conspicuously absent from daily 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 21 cataloged varieties, Child's, Die Sinker & Engraver was a moderately active token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 150J-5a