(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-165CY-57B, OH

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card from Cincinnati, Ohio, cataloged as Fuld 165CY-57B. Cincinnati was the largest inland city in antebellum America and a critical supply center for the Union Army, driving Ohio to produce more varieties of Civil War store cards than any other state. The brass composition of this variety (Fuld 165CY-57B) 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. Professional die sinkers like John Stanton, Benjamin True, and William Bridgens supplied dies to merchants across the Northern states. The Civil War small change crisis generated the largest private coinage movement in American history, with merchants and die sinkers producing tokens for circulation. 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-57B