(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-165FL-2B, OH

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card from Cincinnati, Ohio, cataloged as Fuld 165FL-2B. 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 165FL-2B) is common to somewhat scarce for this merchant. Most Civil War store cards carry no date; this token was struck during the 1862-1864 coin shortage era. Merchants typically ordered tokens from die-sinkers who maintained inventories of patriotic and advertising dies for rapid production. Store cards circulated as emergency currency after wartime hoarding removed federal coins from commercial channels. Brass was the second most common planchet material after copper, giving tokens a golden appearance. Collectors classify Civil War tokens by the Fuld numbering system, which catalogs each unique die combination with rarity ratings from R-1 (over 5,000 known) to R-10 (unique).

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 3 cataloged varieties, this merchant was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 165FL-2B