(1863) Copper Civil War Store Card F-510I-1a, D.J. Doornink WI

Coin Details

Auction Record

$71 MS63 01-20-2014 Stack's Bowers

Description

Civil War-era store card from D.J. Doornink, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin business. Milwaukee's thriving German-American merchant community made it the center of Wisconsin's Civil War token production. D.J. Doornink issued 5 die varieties, more than most Civil War merchants. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 510I-1a) 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. Some token dies were used so extensively that late strikes show significant die wear, providing collectors with a chronological sequence of the production run from fresh to deteriorated states. George and Melvin Fuld's catalog remains the standard reference for Civil War tokens, with each variety assigned a unique identification number.

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 5 cataloged varieties, D.J. Doornink was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 510I-1a