(1863) Copper Civil War Store Card F-165A-1a, M. Adleta OH

Coin Details

Description

Civil War-era store card from M. Adleta, a Cincinnati, Ohio business. Cincinnati's position as a Union Army supply center and Ohio River trade hub made it a prolific source of Civil War tokens. John Stanton and other die sinkers based in the city produced dies for merchants across the Midwest. The 11 cataloged varieties for M. Adleta indicate a notable level of token production. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 165A-1a) is common for this merchant. 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. The Fuld catalog documents thousands of distinct die combinations for Civil War store cards, making this one of the most complex series in American numismatics.

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 11 cataloged varieties, M. Adleta was a notable token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 165A-1a