(1863) Civil War Store Card F-120-B-1a, Columbus; Huggins/1194 WI

Coin Details

Description

Columbus; Huggins/1194 of Wisconsin issued this Civil War store card during the 1862-1864 coin shortage. Wisconsin was a growing frontier state with Milwaukee as its largest commercial center, and its merchants issued tokens as practical solutions to the coin shortage. The dies for merchant tokens were usually cut by professional engravers who could produce a complete set in a matter of days. Civil War tokens addressed a practical problem: the wartime disappearance of federal small change made daily transactions nearly impossible without private substitutes. Token issuers ranged from sole proprietors to large retail establishments, with some merchants ordering thousands of pieces while others had only a few hundred struck for local distribution. 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

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 2 cataloged varieties, Columbus; Huggins/1194 was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 120-B