(1863) Brass Civil War Store Card F-555A-4b, P.L. Potter OH

Coin Details

Auction Record

$120 UNC Details 09-21-2022 Stack's Bowers

Description

Merchant token from P.L. Potter of Middleton, Ohio, cataloged as Fuld 555A-4b. The breadth of Ohio's Civil War token production reflects the state's diverse economy, from Cincinnati's river trade to Cleveland's Lake Erie shipping to interior manufacturing towns. The 12 cataloged varieties for P.L. Potter indicate a notable level of token production. The brass composition of this variety (Fuld 555A-4b) is common to somewhat scarce for this merchant. Token production was a specialized trade — die sinkers maintained catalogs of stock dies that merchants could pair with custom obverses. Congress banned private token issuance in April 1864, but before that, tokens like this one circulated freely as cent substitutes in Northern commerce. Brass strikings are among the more available variants, though less common than copper. Many Civil War tokens survive in high grades because merchants and the public saved them as novelties, resulting in a better average preservation than contemporary federal coins.

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 12 cataloged varieties, P.L. Potter was a notable token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 555A-4b