(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-165AX-4M, OH

Coin Details

Description

Fuld 165AX-4M — store card of James Foster Jr. & Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. 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. James Foster Jr. & Co. issued 5 die varieties, more than most Civil War merchants. 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. 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 5 cataloged varieties, James Foster Jr. & Co. was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 165AX-4M