(1863) Copper Civil War Store Card F-200A-3a, H.A. Crane MI

Coin Details

Description

Civil War-era store card from H.A. Crane, a Corunna, Michigan business. Michigan was a significant industrial state during the Civil War, with Detroit emerging as a major manufacturing center and merchants across the state producing tokens. With 2 known varieties, H.A. Crane produced a modest number of token types. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 200A-3a) is common. Token production was a specialized trade — die sinkers maintained catalogs of stock dies that merchants could pair with custom obverses. Store cards circulated as emergency currency after wartime hoarding removed federal coins from commercial channels. Civil War tokens circulated alongside postage currency, fractional currency notes, and encased postage stamps as substitutes for the federal coins that had disappeared from commercial channels. Civil War store cards are collected both as numismatic items and as historical documents of wartime American commerce.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 2 cataloged varieties, H.A. Crane was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 200A-3a