View All Civil War Store Cards - Rhode Island

(1863) Silvered Civil War Store Card F-700E-2bp, Frank L. Gay RI

Strike Type

Coin Details

Year

1863

Denomination

Store Cards

Strike Type

Regular Strike

Series

Civil War Store Cards

Designer

Various private die sinkers including John Stanton, William Bridgens, and others

Composition

Silvered

Weight

5.5g

Diameter

19mm

Edge

Plain

Auction Record

Price realized: $40
Sold: 21 September 2022
Grade: UNC Details
Auction house: Stack's Bowers

Description

Fuld 700E-2bp — store card of Frank L. Gay, Providence, Rhode Island. Providence was an important manufacturing center, particularly in textiles and jewelry. The city's merchants issued Civil War tokens to maintain daily commerce. Merchants typically ordered tokens from die-sinkers who maintained inventories of patriotic and advertising dies for rapid production. Merchant-issued tokens circulated as substitutes for scarce federal coinage throughout the Northern states between 1862 and 1864. Collectors were buying Civil War tokens from the makers during the war itself, including rare die pairings and off-metal strikes.