(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-150V-3A, F-*IL IL

Coin Details

Description

Store card of F-*IL in Chicago, Illinois, struck during the 1862-1864 token era. Chicago was one of the fastest-growing cities in the world by 1860, rapidly becoming America's railroad hub and grain trading center with a population of 112,000. With 4 known varieties, F-*IL produced a modest number of token types. This copper striking (Fuld 150V-3A) is common among the known varieties. Undated Civil War tokens like this one circulated alongside dated issues during the 1862-1864 period. Token manufacturers struck pieces by the thousands, using hand-fed screw presses capable of producing several hundred tokens per hour. Civil War tokens addressed a practical problem: the wartime disappearance of federal small change made daily transactions nearly impossible without private substitutes. Many Civil War tokens survive in high grades because merchants and the public saved them as novelties, resulting in a better average preservation than contemporary federal coins.

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-3A