(No Date) Brass Civil War Store Card F-500H-1b, J.H. Gotsch IN

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card issued by J.H. Gotsch of Indiana. Indiana was an important agricultural and manufacturing state, with merchants producing store cards as emergency currency when federal coinage was hoarded. With 2 known varieties, J.H. Gotsch produced a modest number of token types. This brass striking (Fuld 500H-1b) is common to somewhat scarce among the known varieties. This undated piece entered commerce during the 1862-1864 period when millions of private tokens replaced vanished federal coinage. Each unique combination of obverse and reverse dies constitutes a separate Fuld catalog number, even when struck in the same metal. Between 1862 and 1864, Northern merchants produced millions of private tokens to compensate for the disappearance of federal coinage. The brass composition gives this token a warm golden tone that contrasts with the reddish-brown of copper strikings.

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 2 cataloged varieties, J.H. Gotsch was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 500H-1b