(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-165AC-5A, OH

Coin Details

Description

Chas. Conroy, a Cincinnati merchant, issued this Civil War store card during the 1862-1864 coin shortage. Cincinnati was the largest inland city in antebellum America and a critical supply center for the Union Army, driving Ohio to produce more varieties of Civil War store cards than any other state. Chas. Conroy issued 9 die varieties, more than most Civil War merchants. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 165AC-5A) is common. 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. 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 9 cataloged varieties, Chas. Conroy was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 165AC-5A