(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-165GC-4B, OH

Coin Details

Description

Merchant token from Van. Wunder of Cincinnati, Ohio, cataloged as Fuld 165GC-4B. Cincinnati's position as a Union Army supply center and Ohio River trade hub made it a prolific source of Civil War tokens. John Stanton and other die sinkers based in the city produced dies for merchants across the Midwest. The 18 cataloged varieties for Van. Wunder indicate a notable level of token production. The brass composition of this variety (Fuld 165GC-4B) is common to somewhat scarce for this merchant. Undated Civil War tokens like this one circulated alongside dated issues during the 1862-1864 period. 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. Brass tokens are moderately available, with their yellowish color distinguishing them from the standard copper issues.

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 18 cataloged varieties, Van. Wunder was a notable token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 165GC-4B