(1863) Copper Civil War Store Card F-175J-2a, J. Langhorn OH

Coin Details

Auction Record

$360 MS66BN 12-13-2022 Stack's Bowers

Description

Fuld 175J-2a — store card of J. Langhorn, Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland's position on Lake Erie made it a vital shipping hub for wartime goods, and its merchants participated actively in the Civil War token phenomenon. With 2 known varieties, J. Langhorn produced a modest number of token types. This copper striking (Fuld 175J-2a) 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. 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 2 cataloged varieties, J. Langhorn was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 175J-2a