(1863) Copper Civil War Store Card F-105B-1a, Alberger's NY

Coin Details

Description

Alberger's of New York produced this token as a cent substitute during the wartime coin shortage. 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 copper striking (Fuld 105B-1a) is common among the known varieties. Token manufacturers struck pieces by the thousands, using hand-fed screw presses capable of producing several hundred tokens per hour. Civil War tokens addressed a practical problem: the wartime disappearance of federal small change made daily transactions nearly impossible without private substitutes. The transition from large copper cents to small-diameter bronze cents in 1857 had already created a shortage mindset, making the public particularly anxious about coin supplies when war began. 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 7 cataloged varieties, Alberger's was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 105B-1a