(1863) Copper Civil War Store Card F-20A-1a, Thin Plan Smick's NJ

Coin Details

Description

Merchant token from Thin Plan Smick's of Atlantic, New Jersey, cataloged as Fuld 20A-1a. New Jersey was a vital industrial and transportation state, with Newark, Trenton, and Paterson as major manufacturing centers where merchants issued Civil War tokens. With 2 known varieties, Thin Plan Smick's produced a modest number of token types. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 20A-1a) 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. Collectors classify Civil War tokens by the Fuld numbering system, which catalogs each unique die combination with rarity ratings from R-1 (over 5,000 known) to R-10 (unique).

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, Thin Plan Smick's was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 20A-1a