(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-175G-1A, OH

Coin Details

Description

Civil War-era store card from D.W. Gage, a Cleveland, Ohio business. Cleveland was a major Lake Erie port and growing industrial center connected to Eastern markets by railroad and the Ohio & Erie Canal. D.W. Gage issued 9 die varieties, more than most Civil War merchants. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 175G-1A) is common. This undated piece entered commerce during the 1862-1864 period when millions of private tokens replaced vanished federal coinage. The dies for merchant tokens were usually cut by professional engravers who could produce a complete set in a matter of days. Civil War tokens addressed a practical problem: the wartime disappearance of federal small change made daily transactions nearly impossible without private substitutes. The cent-sized format was chosen deliberately to match the federal Indian Head cent, the coin most conspicuously absent from daily commerce.

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 9 cataloged varieties, D.W. Gage was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 175G-1A