(1863) Copper Civil War Store Card F-510S-1a, Geo. Kane WI

Coin Details

Description

Fuld 510S-1a — store card of Geo. Kane, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 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 510S-1a) is common for this merchant. Token production was a specialized trade — die sinkers maintained catalogs of stock dies that merchants could pair with custom obverses. Congress banned private token issuance in April 1864, but before that, tokens like this one circulated freely as cent substitutes in Northern commerce. Token production during the Civil War represented the largest private coinage movement in American history, with an estimated 25 million pieces struck between 1862 and 1864. 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, Geo. Kane was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 510S-1a