(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-165BT-12A, OH

Coin Details

Description

Fuld 165BT-12A — store card of B. Hempelman, Cincinnati, Ohio. Cincinnati's position as a Union Army supply center and Ohio River trade hub made it a prolific source of Civil War tokens. John Stanton and other die sinkers based in the city produced dies for merchants across the Midwest. The 19 cataloged varieties for B. Hempelman indicate a notable level of token production. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 165BT-12A) is common for this merchant. The absence of a date is typical for Civil War tokens produced during the 1862-1864 emergency currency period. Many Civil War tokens share common reverse dies, as die sinkers paired merchant-specific obverses with stock patriotic or advertising reverses. Store cards circulated as emergency currency after wartime hoarding removed federal coins from commercial channels. Civil War store cards are collected both as numismatic items and as historical documents of wartime American commerce.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 19 cataloged varieties, B. Hempelman was a notable token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 165BT-12A