(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-225H-3A, MI

Coin Details

Description

Store card of H.W. Beeson in Detroit, Michigan, struck during the 1862-1864 token era. As Michigan's commercial hub, Detroit generated more Civil War token varieties than any other city in the state, reflecting its diverse merchant community. H.W. Beeson issued 8 die varieties, more than most Civil War merchants. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 225H-3A) is common. Like the majority of Civil War store cards, this token is undated, produced during the acute 1862-1864 small change crisis. Token manufacturers struck pieces by the thousands, using hand-fed screw presses capable of producing several hundred tokens per hour. Civil War tokens addressed a practical problem: the wartime disappearance of federal small change made daily transactions nearly impossible without private substitutes. Surviving specimens are tangible artifacts of the wartime monetary crisis that affected every commercial transaction in the Northern states.

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 8 cataloged varieties, H.W. Beeson was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 225H-3A