(1863) Silver Civil War Store Card F-630aa-1fo, J. Gardner Overstk 1858 10C NY

Coin Details

Description

J. Gardner Overstk 1858 10C of New York issued this token as emergency currency during the Civil War. New York state generated the second-largest body of Civil War token issues, concentrated in New York City but extending to Albany, Troy, Buffalo, and smaller commercial centers. This piece is an overstrike struck over a host coin, an 1863 Indian Head cent. Traces of the original design may be visible beneath the new impressions. 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. The silver composition indicates a piece produced outside the normal commercial run, as a numismatic item. Surviving specimens are tangible artifacts of the wartime monetary crisis that affected every commercial transaction in the Northern states.

Rarity Notes

Silver strikings are considerably scarcer than base metal versions, typically produced in small quantities for collectors or as special presentation pieces. Overstrike varieties are generally scarcer than tokens struck on blank planchets, as they required sourcing and re-striking existing coins. With 1 cataloged varieties, J. Gardner Overstk 1858 10C was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 630aa-1fo