(1863) Copper Civil War Store Card F-185B/0a, Uniface

Coin Details

Description

Civil War token cataloged as Fuld 185B/0a, combining obverse die 185 — a shield, Washington, or patriotic design — with reverse die 0 bearing a uniface (one-sided) design with a blank reverse. These privately manufactured tokens served as emergency coinage throughout the Northern states from 1862 to 1864, an entrepreneurial response to the wartime disappearance of federal small change. Produced in copper, the dominant metal of Civil War token production. Copper tokens survive in greater numbers than any other composition, reflecting their enormous production volumes. The Fuld catalog's Location Unknown section encompasses die combinations that bear no identifiable merchant attribution. These tokens circulated on the strength of their patriotic designs alone. Dated 1863, the peak year of Civil War token production when the coin shortage was most acute.

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 1 cataloged varieties, Uniface was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 185B/0a