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(1861) Copper Civil War Store Card F-530G-2a, L.D. Webber IN

Strike Type

Coin Details

Year

1861

Denomination

Store Cards

Strike Type

Regular Strike

Series

Civil War Store Cards

Designer

Various private die sinkers including John Stanton, William Bridgens, and others

Composition

Copper

Weight

4.67g

Diameter

19mm

Edge

Plain

Description

Civil War merchant token bearing the name of L.D. Webber, located in Laporte, Indiana. Indiana was an important agricultural and manufacturing state, with merchants producing store cards as emergency currency when federal coinage was hoarded. With 3 known varieties, L.D. Webber produced a modest number of token types. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 530G-2a) is common. Professional die sinkers like John Stanton, Benjamin True, and William Bridgens supplied dies to merchants across the Northern states. Federal coinage vanished from circulation after 1861 as citizens hoarded silver and copper for their metal value, leaving merchants to fill the void with tokens. 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 3 cataloged varieties, L.D. Webber was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.