(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-150BA-1B, IL

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card from Illinois, cataloged as Fuld 150BA-1B. Illinois was a critical Union state with Chicago rapidly becoming one of America's largest commercial centers, driving token production across the state. Struck in brass, this die combination (Fuld 150BA-1B) is common to somewhat scarce. Civil War tokens rarely bear dates. This piece was struck during the 1862-1864 coin shortage, when merchants needed emergency small change. Token manufacturers struck pieces by the thousands, using hand-fed screw presses capable of producing several hundred tokens per hour. Between 1862 and 1864, Northern merchants produced millions of private tokens to compensate for the disappearance of federal coinage. The brass composition gives this token a warm golden tone that contrasts with the reddish-brown of copper strikings. George and Melvin Fuld's catalog remains the standard reference for Civil War tokens, with each variety assigned a unique identification number.

Rarity Notes

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

Cross References

Fuld 150BA-1B