(1863) Copper Civil War Store Card F-765A-2a, Butler Witter & Co. OH

Coin Details

Auction Record

$250 MS61BN 02-21-2023 eBay

Description

Civil War-era store card from Butler Witter & Co., a Ravenna, Ohio business. Ohio's extensive commercial networks across dozens of cities generated an unparalleled body of merchant token issues during the 1862-1864 coin shortage. With 3 known varieties, Butler Witter & Co. produced a modest number of token types. This copper striking (Fuld 765A-2a) is common among the known varieties. Each unique combination of obverse and reverse dies constitutes a separate Fuld catalog number, even when struck in the same metal. Between 1862 and 1864, Northern merchants produced millions of private tokens to compensate for the disappearance of federal coinage. 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. 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 3 cataloged varieties, Butler Witter & Co. was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 765A-2a