(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-145A-1A, IN

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card from Indiana, cataloged as Fuld 145A-1A. Indiana was an important agricultural and manufacturing state, with merchants producing store cards as emergency currency when federal coinage was hoarded. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 145A-1A) is common. Undated Civil War tokens like this one circulated alongside dated issues during the 1862-1864 period. Professional die sinkers like John Stanton, Benjamin True, and William Bridgens supplied dies to merchants across the Northern states. Merchant-issued tokens circulated as substitutes for scarce federal coinage throughout the Northern states between 1862 and 1864. Some token dies were used so extensively that late strikes show significant die wear, providing collectors with a chronological sequence of the production run from fresh to deteriorated states. Civil War store cards are collected both as numismatic items and as historical documents of wartime American commerce.

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 3 cataloged varieties, this merchant was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 145A-1A