(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-13E-2d, PA

Coin Details

Description

Fuld 13E-2d — store card of R. & W. Jenkinson, Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania was the Union's industrial heartland, with Philadelphia as a manufacturing center and Pittsburgh as an iron and steel producer. The 16 cataloged varieties for R. & W. Jenkinson indicate a notable level of token production. The copper-nickel composition of this variety (Fuld 13E-2d) is somewhat scarce for this merchant. Although undated, this token was produced during the 1862-1864 period when federal coins disappeared from commerce. Token production was a specialized trade — die sinkers maintained catalogs of stock dies that merchants could pair with custom obverses. Congress banned private token issuance in April 1864, but before that, tokens like this one circulated freely as cent substitutes in Northern commerce. The copper-nickel composition gave these tokens the closest resemblance to federal coinage of any metal variant.

Rarity Notes

Copper-nickel strikings are moderately scarce compared to pure copper or brass versions. With 16 cataloged varieties, R. & W. Jenkinson was a notable token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 13E-2d