(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-165AZ-3A, OH

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card from Ohio, cataloged as Fuld 165AZ-3A. The breadth of Ohio's Civil War token production reflects the state's diverse economy, from Cincinnati's river trade to Cleveland's Lake Erie shipping to interior manufacturing towns. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 165AZ-3A) is common for this merchant. Although undated, this token was produced during the 1862-1864 period when federal coins disappeared from commerce. Die sinkers offered merchants a choice of metals, with copper being cheapest and most common, while silver and gold were struck for collectors. Civil War tokens addressed a practical problem: the wartime disappearance of federal small change made daily transactions nearly impossible without private substitutes. The cent-sized format was chosen deliberately to match the federal Indian Head cent, the coin most conspicuously absent from daily commerce.

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 6 cataloged varieties, this merchant was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 165AZ-3A