(1863) Brass Civil War Store Card F-95A-1b, Braun & Schellworth's NY

Coin Details

Auction Record

$264 MS64 05-29-2019 Stack's Bowers

Description

Fuld 95A-1b — store card of Braun & Schellworth's, New York. New York was the nation's commercial capital, with New York City alone producing hundreds of store card varieties from Broadway retailers to waterfront wholesalers. This brass striking (Fuld 95A-1b) is common to somewhat scarce among the known varieties. The token trade was competitive, with die sinkers in New York, Cincinnati, and other cities vying for merchant orders across the region. Between 1862 and 1864, Northern merchants produced millions of private tokens to compensate for the disappearance of federal coinage. Brass was the second most common planchet material after copper, giving tokens a golden appearance. The Fuld catalog documents thousands of distinct die combinations for Civil War store cards, making this one of the most complex series in American numismatics.

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 4 cataloged varieties, Braun & Schellworth's was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 95A-1b