(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-165AMB-2BP, OH

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card from Cincinnati, Ohio, cataloged as Fuld 165AMB-2BP. Known as the "Queen of the West," Cincinnati served as a major Ohio River commercial hub. Its merchants produced hundreds of store card varieties during the 1862-1864 coin shortage. 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. The token era ended when Congress authorized new federal small-denomination currency and criminalized private token production in 1864. Merchants who issued tokens during the Civil War provided a critical public service by maintaining the ability to make change for routine purchases at a time when federal coinage had nearly vanished from everyday commerce. Surviving specimens are tangible artifacts of the wartime monetary crisis that affected every commercial transaction in the Northern states.

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

Cross References

Fuld 165AMB-2BP