(1864) Brass Civil War Store Card F-131A, /K-278b Mule Lincoln-5 Line Rev.

Coin Details

Auction Record

$1,540 MS64 10-23-2023 eBay

Description

Civil War token cataloged as Fuld 131A, featuring obverse die 131 — a portrait of Abraham Lincoln — with a muled die combination (/K-278b Mule Lincoln-5 Line Rev.). Lincoln's portrait on Civil War tokens transformed everyday commerce into a political statement. These dies are among the scarcest and most collected in the series. The absence of merchant information on this die combination places it in the Fuld catalog's Location Unknown section, among tokens produced as patriotic cent substitutes rather than as advertising pieces. The brass composition produced a distinctive warm golden tone. Brass was sourced primarily from the Waterbury, Connecticut mills that supplied many Northern token manufacturers. Produced in 1864, the twilight of the Civil War token era. By year's end, new federal bronze cents and fractional currency had largely replaced private tokens in 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 4 cataloged varieties, /K-277b Mule Lincoln-4 Line Rev. was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 131A