(1862) Brass Civil War Store Card F-750V-8b, N & G. Taylor Co. PA

Coin Details

Description

GW-557 N & G. Taylor Co. of Phila issued this token as emergency currency during the Civil War coin shortage. Pennsylvania was the Union's industrial heartland, with Philadelphia as a manufacturing center and Pittsburgh as an iron and steel producer. GW-557 N & G. Taylor Co. issued 6 die varieties, more than most Civil War merchants. Struck in brass, this die combination (Fuld 750V-8b) is common to somewhat scarce. Merchants typically ordered tokens from die-sinkers who maintained inventories of patriotic and advertising dies for rapid production. Merchant-issued tokens circulated as substitutes for scarce federal coinage throughout the Northern states between 1862 and 1864. Brass was the second most common planchet material after copper, giving tokens a golden appearance. After Congress banned private coinage in 1864, surviving tokens became instant collectibles, with serious collecting beginning within a decade of the war's end.

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 6 cataloged varieties, GW-557 N & G. Taylor Co. was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 750V-8b