(1863) Copper Civil War Store Card F-915A-2a, Bartholomew & McClelland IN

Coin Details

Description

Bartholomew & McClelland of Valparaiso issued this token as emergency currency during the Civil War coin shortage. Indiana was an important agricultural and manufacturing state, with merchants producing store cards as emergency currency when federal coinage was hoarded. With 2 known varieties, Bartholomew & McClelland produced a modest number of token types. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 915A-2a) is common. Merchants typically ordered tokens from die-sinkers who maintained inventories of patriotic and advertising dies for rapid production. Congress banned private token issuance in April 1864, but before that, tokens like this one circulated freely as cent substitutes in Northern commerce. 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 2 cataloged varieties, Bartholomew & McClelland was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 915A-2a