(1864) Copper Civil War Store Card F-290E-7a, W. H. Brooks Jr. IN

Coin Details

Description

W.H. Brooks Jr., a Ft. Wayne merchant, issued this Civil War store card during the 1862-1864 coin shortage. Indiana was an important agricultural and manufacturing state, with merchants producing store cards as emergency currency when federal coinage was hoarded. W.H. Brooks Jr. issued 8 die varieties, more than most Civil War merchants. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 290E-7a) is common for this merchant. Each unique combination of obverse and reverse dies constitutes a separate Fuld catalog number, even when struck in the same metal. The Civil War small change crisis generated the largest private coinage movement in American history, with merchants and die sinkers producing tokens for circulation. The cent-sized format was chosen deliberately to match the federal Indian Head cent, the coin most conspicuously absent from daily 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 8 cataloged varieties, W.H. Brooks Jr. was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 290E-7a