(1863) Copper Civil War Store Card F-330A-2a, N.A. Brown's WI

Coin Details

Description

N.A. Brown's, a Kenosha merchant, issued this Civil War store card during the 1862-1864 coin shortage. Wisconsin was a growing frontier state with Milwaukee as its largest commercial center, and its merchants issued tokens as practical solutions to the coin shortage. With 2 known varieties, N.A. Brown's produced a modest number of token types. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 330A-2a) is common. Token manufacturers struck pieces by the thousands, using hand-fed screw presses capable of producing several hundred tokens per hour. Between 1862 and 1864, Northern merchants produced millions of private tokens to compensate for the disappearance of federal coinage. The Fuld catalog documents thousands of distinct die combinations for Civil War store cards, making this one of the most complex series in American numismatics.

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, N.A. Brown's was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 330A-2a