(1864) Brass Civil War Store Card F-45A-1b, Peck & Orvis WI

Coin Details

Auction Record

$504 MS63 09-21-2022 Stack's Bowers

Description

Fuld 45A-1b — store card of Peck & Orvis, Baraboo, Wisconsin. Wisconsin was a growing frontier state with Milwaukee as its largest commercial center, and its merchants issued tokens as practical solutions to the coin shortage. The 13 cataloged varieties for Peck & Orvis indicate a notable level of token production. This brass striking (Fuld 45A-1b) is common to somewhat scarce among the known varieties. Die sinkers offered merchants a choice of metals, with copper being cheapest and most common, while silver and gold were struck for collectors. Between 1862 and 1864, Northern merchants produced millions of private tokens to compensate for the disappearance of federal coinage. Brass planchets were readily available to die sinkers, making this a relatively accessible metal variant for collectors. The cent-sized format was chosen deliberately to match the federal Indian Head cent, the coin most conspicuously absent from daily commerce.

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 13 cataloged varieties, Peck & Orvis was a notable token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 45A-1b