(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-165BY-1F, OH

Coin Details

Description

Civil War merchant token bearing the name of Gilbert B. Hotchkiss in Ohio. 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. With 2 known varieties, Gilbert B. Hotchkiss produced a modest number of token types. The silver composition of this variety (Fuld 165BY-1F) is rare for this merchant. Like the majority of Civil War store cards, this token is undated, produced during the acute 1862-1864 small change crisis. Token manufacturers struck pieces by the thousands, using hand-fed screw presses capable of producing several hundred tokens per hour. Between 1862 and 1864, Northern merchants produced millions of private tokens to compensate for the disappearance of federal coinage. The silver composition indicates a piece produced outside the normal commercial run, as a numismatic item.

Rarity Notes

Silver strikings are considerably scarcer than base metal versions, typically produced in small quantities for collectors or as special presentation pieces. With 2 cataloged varieties, Gilbert B. Hotchkiss was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 165BY-1F