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(1863) Civil War Store Card F-030-A-3d, Appleton; Parsons&Barlow/1220 WI

Strike Type

Coin Details

Year

1863

Denomination

Store Cards

Strike Type

Regular Strike

Series

Civil War Store Cards

Designer

Various private die sinkers including John Stanton, William Bridgens, and others

Composition

Bronze

Weight

4.67g

Diameter

19mm

Description

Fuld 030-A — store card of Appleton; Parsons&Barlow/1220, Wisconsin. G. Parsons operated a fireworks business in New York City and issued tokens advertising "G. PARSONS FIREWORKS" in 1863. Some varieties are extremely rare (R-8), including a German Silver striking that is unique as the only certified example. The large number of die combinations indicates either a long production run or deliberate creation of varieties. Token manufacturers struck pieces by the thousands, using hand-fed screw presses capable of producing several hundred tokens per hour. Between 1862 and 1864, Northern merchants produced millions of private tokens to compensate for the disappearance of federal coinage. George and Melvin Fuld's catalog remains the standard reference for Civil War tokens, with each variety assigned a unique identification number.

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, Appleton; Parsons&Barlow/1220 was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.