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

Coin Details

Description

Merchant token from A.B. Wlison of Cincinnati, Ohio, cataloged as Fuld 165GL-2B. 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 17 cataloged varieties for A.B. Wlison indicate a notable level of token production. The brass composition of this variety (Fuld 165GL-2B) is common to somewhat scarce for this merchant. 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. Congress banned private token issuance in April 1864, but before that, tokens like this one circulated freely as cent substitutes in Northern commerce. Brass was the second most common planchet material after copper, giving tokens a golden appearance.

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 17 cataloged varieties, A.B. Wlison was a notable token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 165GL-2B