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

Coin Details

Description

Civil War merchant token bearing the name of J.A. Hughes, located in 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. J.A. Hughes issued 6 die varieties, more than most Civil War merchants. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 165BZ-1A) is common 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. The token era ended when Congress authorized new federal small-denomination currency and criminalized private token production in 1864.

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, J.A. Hughes was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 165BZ-1A