(1863) Copper Civil War Store Card F-510H-1a, A.J. Cooper WI

Coin Details

Auction Record

$132 MS63BN 08-22-2021 Heritage Auctions

Description

Civil War-era store card from A.J. Cooper, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin business. Milwaukee's thriving German-American merchant community made it the center of Wisconsin's Civil War token production. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 510H-1a) is common for this merchant. Die sinkers produced these tokens on hand-operated screw presses, often filling orders for multiple merchants simultaneously. The Civil War small change crisis generated the largest private coinage movement in American history, with merchants and die sinkers producing tokens for circulation. The coin shortage of 1862-1864 affected virtually every retail transaction in the Northern states, as hoarding removed silver and copper coins from circulation faster than the U.S. Mint could replace them. The cent-sized format was chosen deliberately to match the federal Indian Head cent, the coin most conspicuously absent from daily 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 1 cataloged varieties, A.J. Cooper was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 510H-1a