(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-175S-5B, OH

Coin Details

Auction Record

$200 VF30 11-29-2016 Heritage Auctions

Description

Civil War merchant token bearing the name of Geo. Worthington & Co., located in Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland was a major Lake Erie port and growing industrial center connected to Eastern markets by railroad and the Ohio & Erie Canal. The 17 cataloged varieties for Geo. Worthington & Co. indicate a notable level of token production. The brass composition of this variety (Fuld 175S-5B) is common to somewhat scarce for this merchant. No date appears on this token, consistent with the rapid production practices of the 1862-1864 Civil War token boom. Die sinkers offered merchants a choice of metals, with copper being cheapest and most common, while silver and gold were struck for collectors. Civil War tokens addressed a practical problem: the wartime disappearance of federal small change made daily transactions nearly impossible without private substitutes. Brass planchets were readily available to die sinkers, making this a relatively accessible metal variant for collectors.

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 17 cataloged varieties, Geo. Worthington & Co. was a notable token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 175S-5B