(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-225BZ-4B, MI

Coin Details

Auction Record

$240 MS63 11-18-2020 Stack's Bowers

Description

Fuld 225BZ-4B — store card of L.J. Staples, Detroit, Michigan. Detroit was Michigan's largest city and a major manufacturing center, producing stoves, railroad equipment, and industrial goods for the Northern war effort. The 10 cataloged varieties for L.J. Staples indicate a notable level of token production. The brass composition of this variety (Fuld 225BZ-4B) is common to somewhat scarce for this merchant. Civil War tokens rarely bear dates. This piece was struck during the 1862-1864 coin shortage, when merchants needed emergency small change. Professional die sinkers like John Stanton, Benjamin True, and William Bridgens supplied dies to merchants across the Northern states. The Civil War small change crisis generated the largest private coinage movement in American history, with merchants and die sinkers producing tokens for circulation. The brass composition gives this token a warm golden tone that contrasts with the reddish-brown of copper strikings.

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 10 cataloged varieties, L.J. Staples was a notable token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 225BZ-4B