(1863) Copper Civil War Store Card F-100A-1a, Thompson & Wiley IN

Coin Details

Description

Thompson & Wiley of Bethel issued this token as emergency currency during the Civil War coin shortage. Indiana was an important agricultural and manufacturing state, with merchants producing store cards as emergency currency when federal coinage was hoarded. With 3 known varieties, Thompson & Wiley produced a modest number of token types. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 100A-1a) is common. 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. The cent-sized format was chosen deliberately to match the federal Indian Head cent, the coin most conspicuously absent from daily commerce.

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, Thompson & Wiley was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 100A-1a