(1864) Copper Civil War Store Card F-232A/403a, Our Country

Coin Details

Description

Civil War token cataloged as Fuld 232A/403a, combining obverse die 232 — a naval, Monitor, or patriotic design — with reverse die 403 bearing the inscription "OUR COUNTRY". A powerful assertion of national identity. Civil War tokens were privately struck cent-sized pieces that circulated as emergency currency during 1862-1864, when wartime hoarding drained federal coinage from commerce. Struck in copper, the standard metal for Civil War tokens chosen because cent-sized copper pieces passed as substitute federal cents in everyday commerce. This token lacks the merchant identification found on most Civil War store cards. Its placement in the Fuld Location Unknown section reflects the purely patriotic or political nature of its die combination. 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 1 cataloged varieties, Our Country was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 232A/403a