(1864) German-Silver Civil War Store Card F-146/472j, RI First In The Field

Coin Details

Description

Fuld 146/472j — store card of RI First In The Field, Rhode Island. Rhode Island was an important manufacturing center in textiles and jewelry, with Providence merchants issuing Civil War tokens for daily commerce. Each unique combination of obverse and reverse dies constitutes a separate Fuld catalog number, even when struck in the same metal. The token era ended when Congress authorized new federal small-denomination currency and criminalized private token production in 1864. Merchants who issued tokens during the Civil War provided a critical public service by maintaining the ability to make change for routine purchases at a time when federal coinage had nearly vanished from everyday commerce. 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 1 cataloged varieties, RI First In The Field was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 146/472j