(No Date) Brass Civil War Store Card F-630AMa-1b, H&M. Kayser & Co. NY

Coin Details

Description

Fuld 630AMa-1b — store card of H&M. Kayser & Co., New York. New York state generated the second-largest body of Civil War token issues, concentrated in New York City but extending to Albany, Troy, Buffalo, and smaller commercial centers. The brass composition of this variety (Fuld 630AMa-1b) is common to somewhat scarce for this merchant. This undated piece entered commerce during the 1862-1864 period when millions of private tokens replaced vanished federal coinage. Token manufacturers struck pieces by the thousands, using hand-fed screw presses capable of producing several hundred tokens per hour. Private tokens entered circulation after the suspension of specie payments in late 1861 drained small change from commerce. The brass composition gives this token a warm golden tone that contrasts with the reddish-brown of copper strikings. Collectors classify Civil War tokens by the Fuld numbering system, which catalogs each unique die combination with rarity ratings from R-1 (over 5,000 known) to R-10 (unique).

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 1 cataloged varieties, H&M. Kayser & Co. was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 630AMa-1b