(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-224CM-3B, MI

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card from Michigan, cataloged as Fuld 224CM-3B. Michigan's merchants across numerous cities actively produced tokens to combat the small change shortage affecting Northern commerce. This brass striking (Fuld 224CM-3B) is common to somewhat scarce among the known varieties. Although undated, this token was produced during the 1862-1864 period when federal coins disappeared from commerce. Token production was a specialized trade — die sinkers maintained catalogs of stock dies that merchants could pair with custom obverses. Congress banned private token issuance in April 1864, but before that, tokens like this one circulated freely as cent substitutes in Northern commerce. Brass strikings are among the more available variants, though less common than copper. Surviving specimens are tangible artifacts of the wartime monetary crisis that affected every commercial transaction in the Northern states.

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 1 cataloged varieties, this merchant was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 224CM-3B