(1863) Brass Civil War Store Card F-150ALa-1b, Klare & Friedrick's IL

Coin Details

Description

Civil War-era store card from Klare & Friedrick's of Illinois. Illinois was a critical Union state with Chicago rapidly becoming one of America's largest commercial centers, driving token production across the state. The brass composition of this variety (Fuld 150ALa-1b) is common to somewhat scarce for this merchant. 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. Brass tokens are moderately available, with their yellowish color distinguishing them from the standard copper issues. The cent-sized format was chosen deliberately to match the federal Indian Head cent, the coin most conspicuously absent from daily commerce.

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 1 cataloged varieties, Klare & Friedrick's was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 150ALa-1b