(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-150V-1A, F-*IL IL

Coin Details

Description

F-*IL, based in Chicago, Illinois, produced this token as a cent substitute during the wartime coin shortage. Chicago's explosive growth as a railroad and commodity trading center made it Illinois' primary source of Civil War store cards. With 4 known varieties, F-*IL produced a modest number of token types. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 150V-1A) is common for this merchant. Civil War tokens rarely bear dates. This piece was struck during the 1862-1864 coin shortage, when merchants needed emergency small change. 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. 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 4 cataloged varieties, F-*IL was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 150V-1A