(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-13E-6a, PA

Coin Details

Description

R. & W. Jenkinson of Allegheny issued this token as emergency currency during the Civil War coin shortage. 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. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 13E-6a) is common. Undated Civil War tokens like this one circulated alongside dated issues during the 1862-1864 period. Merchants typically ordered tokens from die-sinkers who maintained inventories of patriotic and advertising dies for rapid production. Merchant-issued tokens circulated as substitutes for scarce federal coinage throughout the Northern states between 1862 and 1864. After Congress banned private coinage in 1864, surviving tokens became instant collectibles, with serious collecting beginning within a decade of the war's end.

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 16 cataloged varieties, R. & W. Jenkinson was a notable token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 13E-6a