(1863) Copper Civil War Store Card F-345Aa-3a, Obv Brockage-J.J. Bode CT

Coin Details

Description

Store card of Obv Brockage-J.J. Bode in Connecticut, struck during the 1862-1864 token era. Connecticut was a major arms manufacturing center, with Colt in Hartford and Winchester in New Haven. Its merchants issued tokens alongside the munitions output. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 345Aa-3a) is common for this merchant. Token manufacturers struck pieces by the thousands, using hand-fed screw presses capable of producing several hundred tokens per hour. Private tokens entered circulation after the suspension of specie payments in late 1861 drained small change from commerce. The federal government's response to the coin shortage included issuing fractional currency in denominations as small as three cents, but these paper notes wore out quickly and were unpopular with merchants. Over 25 million Civil War tokens were produced before Congress ended private coinage in April 1864, making them the largest private coinage movement in American history.

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, Obv Brockage-J.J. Bode was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 345Aa-3a