(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-165CY-42B, OH

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card from Cincinnati, Ohio, cataloged as Fuld 165CY-42B. 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 brass composition of this variety (Fuld 165CY-42B) is common to somewhat scarce for this merchant. This undated piece entered commerce during the 1862-1864 period when millions of private tokens replaced vanished federal coinage. 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. The brass composition gives this token a warm golden tone that contrasts with the reddish-brown of copper strikings.

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 72 cataloged varieties, this merchant was a substantial producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 165CY-42B