(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-13E-8a, PA

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card issued by R. & W. Jenkinson of 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 composition of this variety (Fuld 13E-8a) is common for this merchant. This undated token was struck circa 1862-1864 during the wartime coin shortage. 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. Over 25 million Civil War tokens were produced before Congress ended private coinage in April 1864, making them the largest private coinage movement in American history.

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-8a