(1861) Copper Civil War Store Card F-450O-2a, Geo W. Underwood MI

Coin Details

Description

Merchant token from Geo W. Underwood of Hillsdale, Michigan, cataloged as Fuld 450O-2a. Michigan was a significant industrial state during the Civil War, with Detroit emerging as a major manufacturing center and merchants across the state producing tokens. With 2 known varieties, Geo W. Underwood produced a modest number of token types. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 450O-2a) is common. 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 2 cataloged varieties, Geo W. Underwood was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 450O-2a