(1864) Brass Civil War Store Card F-720A-7b, Greenway's WI

Coin Details

Description

Civil War-era store card from Greenway & Co's, a Ripon, Wisconsin business. 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 11 cataloged varieties for Greenway & Co's indicate a notable level of token production. The brass composition of this variety (Fuld 720A-7b) is common to somewhat scarce for this merchant. Die sinkers offered merchants a choice of metals, with copper being cheapest and most common, while silver and gold were struck for collectors. Civil War tokens addressed a practical problem: the wartime disappearance of federal small change made daily transactions nearly impossible without private substitutes. Brass strikings are among the more available variants, though less common than copper. Many Civil War tokens survive in high grades because merchants and the public saved them as novelties, resulting in a better average preservation than contemporary federal coins.

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 11 cataloged varieties, Greenway & Co's was a notable token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 720A-7b