(1863) Copper Civil War Store Card F-65A-1a, Binder & Co. MI

Coin Details

Auction Record

$110 MS63BN 09-02-2021 Stack's Bowers

Description

Binder & Co. of Bay City issued this token as emergency currency during the Civil War coin shortage. Michigan's merchants across numerous cities actively produced tokens to combat the small change shortage affecting Northern commerce. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 65A-1a) is common. Token production was a specialized trade — die sinkers maintained catalogs of stock dies that merchants could pair with custom obverses. Merchant-issued tokens circulated as substitutes for scarce federal coinage throughout the Northern states between 1862 and 1864. 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. After Congress banned private coinage in 1864, surviving tokens became instant collectibles, with serious collecting beginning within a decade of the war's end.

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, Binder & Co. was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 65A-1a