(1863) Copper Civil War Store Card F-970A-1a, Charles Lang MA

Coin Details

Auction Record

$336 MS65BN 10-07-2020 Heritage Auctions

Description

Fuld 970A-1a — store card of Charles Lang, Worcester, Massachusetts. Massachusetts was a center of manufacturing and abolitionist sentiment, with Boston and surrounding cities contributing Civil War tokens as emergency currency. With 2 known varieties, Charles Lang produced a modest number of token types. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 970A-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. 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 2 cataloged varieties, Charles Lang was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 970A-1a