(1863) Copper Civil War Store Card F-995C-2a, Joseph Crosby OH

Coin Details

Auction Record

$80 MS63BN 09-02-2021 Stack's Bowers

Description

Joseph Crosby of Zanesville issued this token as emergency currency during the Civil War coin shortage. The breadth of Ohio's Civil War token production reflects the state's diverse economy, from Cincinnati's river trade to Cleveland's Lake Erie shipping to interior manufacturing towns. Joseph Crosby issued 6 die varieties, more than most Civil War merchants. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 995C-2a) is common for this merchant. Token manufacturers struck pieces by the thousands, using hand-fed screw presses capable of producing several hundred tokens per hour. Between 1862 and 1864, Northern merchants produced millions of private tokens to compensate for the disappearance of federal coinage. 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 6 cataloged varieties, Joseph Crosby was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 995C-2a