(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-200I-4A, OH

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card issued by Wagner's of Columbus, Ohio. Columbus, the state capital, was a major military staging area with Camp Chase housing Confederate prisoners and thousands of Union troops training within the city. Wagner's issued 6 die varieties, more than most Civil War merchants. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 200I-4A) is common for this merchant. The absence of a date on this token is standard for the 1862-1864 era, when speed of production mattered more than formality. Die sinkers offered merchants a choice of metals, with copper being cheapest and most common, while silver and gold were struck for collectors. Between 1862 and 1864, Northern merchants produced millions of private tokens to compensate for the disappearance of federal coinage. 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 6 cataloged varieties, Wagner's was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 200I-4A