(1863) Copper Civil War Store Card F-510AL-1a, H. Steinmann WI

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card issued by H. Steinmann of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Milwaukee was Wisconsin's largest city and a major brewing and manufacturing center, with its large German immigrant population strongly supporting the Union cause. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 510AL-1a) 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. Between 1862 and 1864, Northern merchants produced millions of private tokens to compensate for the disappearance of federal coinage. The Act of April 22, 1864 effectively ended private coinage by imposing penalties of up to five years imprisonment and a $2,000 fine for producing unauthorized coins or tokens. 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 1 cataloged varieties, H. Steinmann was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 510AL-1a