(1863) Copper Civil War Store Card F-165DT-6a, Miedeking OH

Coin Details

Description

Merchant token from Miedeking of Cincinnati, Ohio, cataloged as Fuld 165DT-6a. 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. Miedeking issued 9 die varieties, more than most Civil War merchants. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 165DT-6a) is common. 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. Surviving specimens are tangible artifacts of the wartime monetary crisis that affected every commercial transaction in the Northern states.

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 9 cataloged varieties, Miedeking was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 165DT-6a