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

Coin Details

Description

Civil War-era store card from I. Rees, a Cincinnati, Ohio business. 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. With 3 known varieties, I. Rees produced a modest number of token types. Struck in copper-nickel, this die combination (Fuld 165ES-1D) is somewhat scarce. 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. Civil War tokens addressed a practical problem: the wartime disappearance of federal small change made daily transactions nearly impossible without private substitutes. Copper-nickel strikings are moderately scarce, resembling the federal Indian Head cent in both size and color.

Rarity Notes

Copper-nickel strikings are moderately scarce compared to pure copper or brass versions. With 3 cataloged varieties, I. Rees was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 165ES-1D