(1862) Copper Civil War Store Card F-370J-1a, L.H. Randall MI

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card issued by L.H. Randall of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Grand Rapids was a growing commercial center in western Michigan, famous for its furniture manufacturing and lumber industry. With 3 known varieties, L.H. Randall produced a modest number of token types. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 370J-1a) 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. The federal government's response to the coin shortage included issuing fractional currency in denominations as small as three cents, but these paper notes wore out quickly and were unpopular with merchants. The cent-sized format was chosen deliberately to match the federal Indian Head cent, the coin most conspicuously absent from daily commerce.

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.H. Randall was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 370J-1a