(1864) Copper Civil War Store Card F-430G-1a, J.S. Ream IN

Coin Details

Description

Store card of J.S. Ream in Huntington, Indiana, struck during the 1862-1864 token era. Indiana was an important agricultural and manufacturing state, with merchants producing store cards as emergency currency when federal coinage was hoarded. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 430G-1a) is common for this merchant. The token trade was competitive, with die sinkers in New York, Cincinnati, and other cities vying for merchant orders across the region. Between 1862 and 1864, Northern merchants produced millions of private tokens to compensate for the disappearance of federal coinage. Die sinkers in major cities competed fiercely for merchant orders, offering stock reverses that could be paired with custom obverse dies featuring the merchant's name and business information. George and Melvin Fuld's catalog remains the standard reference for Civil War tokens, with each variety assigned a unique identification number.

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, J.S. Ream was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 430G-1a