(1862) Brass Civil War Store Card F-745A-2b, Burton's OH

Coin Details

Description

Burton's, a Portsmouth merchant, issued this Civil War store card during the 1862-1864 coin shortage. Ohio produced more varieties of Civil War store cards than any other state, driven by Cincinnati's role as the largest inland city and a Union Army supply hub. Burton's issued 5 die varieties, more than most Civil War merchants. This brass striking (Fuld 745A-2b) is common to somewhat scarce 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 brass composition gives this token a warm golden tone that contrasts with the reddish-brown of copper strikings. Surviving specimens are tangible artifacts of the wartime monetary crisis that affected every commercial transaction in the Northern states.

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 5 cataloged varieties, Burton's was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 745A-2b