(1863) Civil War Store Card F-770A-1A, Fox & Smith MI

Coin Details

Description

This Civil War token was issued by Fox & Smith, operating in Pontiac, Michigan. Michigan was a significant industrial state during the Civil War, with Detroit emerging as a major manufacturing center and merchants across the state producing tokens. With 2 known varieties, Fox & Smith produced a modest number of token types. This copper striking (Fuld 770A-1A) is common among the known varieties. Many Civil War tokens share common reverse dies, as die sinkers paired merchant-specific obverses with stock patriotic or advertising reverses. Civil War tokens addressed a practical problem: the wartime disappearance of federal small change made daily transactions nearly impossible without private substitutes. 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, Fox & Smith was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 770A-1A