(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-165FS-5A, OH

Coin Details

Description

Merchant token from J. Smith's of Cincinnati, Ohio, cataloged as Fuld 165FS-5A. Known as the "Queen of the West," Cincinnati served as a major Ohio River commercial hub. Its merchants produced hundreds of store card varieties during the 1862-1864 coin shortage. The 11 cataloged varieties for J. Smith's indicate a notable level of token production. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 165FS-5A) is common. The absence of a date is typical for Civil War tokens produced during the 1862-1864 emergency currency period. Many Civil War tokens share common reverse dies, as die sinkers paired merchant-specific obverses with stock patriotic or advertising reverses. Civil War tokens addressed a practical problem: the wartime disappearance of federal small change made daily transactions nearly impossible without private substitutes. Many Civil War tokens survive in high grades because merchants and the public saved them as novelties, resulting in a better average preservation than contemporary federal coins.

Rarity Notes

Copper strikings are generally the most common metal variant for Civil War store cards, as copper was the standard planchet material mimicking the federal cent. With 11 cataloged varieties, J. Smith's was a notable token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 165FS-5A