(1861) Copper-Nickel Civil War Store Card F-360A-1do, W. Bell's PA

Coin Details

Auction Record

$528 AU55 08-20-2019 Stack's Bowers

Description

Civil War store card issued by W. Bell's of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania was the Union's industrial heartland, with Philadelphia as a manufacturing center and Pittsburgh as an iron and steel producer. This piece is an overstrike struck over a host coin, an 1863 Indian Head cent. Traces of the original design may be visible beneath the new impressions. The token trade was competitive, with die sinkers in New York, Cincinnati, and other cities vying for merchant orders across the region. The token era ended when Congress authorized new federal small-denomination currency and criminalized private token production in 1864. Copper-nickel strikings are moderately scarce, resembling the federal Indian Head cent in both size and color. Surviving specimens are tangible artifacts of the wartime monetary crisis that affected every commercial transaction in the Northern states.

Rarity Notes

Copper-nickel strikings are moderately scarce compared to pure copper or brass versions. Overstrike varieties are generally scarcer than tokens struck on blank planchets, as they required sourcing and re-striking existing coins. With 1 cataloged varieties, W. Bell's was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 360A-1do