(1864) Copper Civil War Store Card F-400A-1a, D. Peck & Co. MO

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card issued by D. Peck & Co. of Ironton, Missouri. Missouri was a contested border state with St. Louis as a Union stronghold where most Missouri Civil War store cards originated. With 4 known varieties, D. Peck & Co. produced a modest number of token types. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 400A-1a) is common. Token manufacturers struck pieces by the thousands, using hand-fed screw presses capable of producing several hundred tokens per hour. The token era ended when Congress authorized new federal small-denomination currency and criminalized private token production in 1864. The federal government's response to the coin shortage included issuing fractional currency in denominations as small as three cents, but these paper notes wore out quickly and were unpopular with merchants. Surviving specimens are tangible artifacts of the wartime monetary crisis that affected every commercial transaction in the Northern states.

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, D. Peck & Co. was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 400A-1a