(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-165FT-7B, OH

Coin Details

Description

Fuld 165FT-7B — store card of S&L Smith, Cincinnati, Ohio. 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 12 cataloged varieties for S&L Smith indicate a notable level of token production. This brass striking (Fuld 165FT-7B) is common to somewhat scarce among the known varieties. 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. Civil War tokens addressed a practical problem: the wartime disappearance of federal small change made daily transactions nearly impossible without private substitutes. 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 12 cataloged varieties, S&L Smith was a notable token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 165FT-7B