(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-165FE-2E, OH

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card from Ohio, cataloged as Fuld 165FE-2E. 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. Struck in white metal, this die combination (Fuld 165FE-2E) is somewhat scarce. Civil War tokens rarely bear dates. This piece was struck during the 1862-1864 coin shortage, when merchants needed emergency small change. 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. White metal (a tin-based alloy) pieces are scarcer than copper and often show significant wear from their soft composition.

Rarity Notes

White metal (tin alloy) strikings are less common than copper or brass versions and tend to show more wear due to the softness of the alloy. With 2 cataloged varieties, this merchant was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 165FE-2E