(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-225U-2A, MI

Coin Details

Description

This Civil War token was issued by Godfrey Dean & Co, operating in 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 Godfrey Dean & Co indicate a notable level of token production. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 225U-2A) is common. Undated Civil War tokens like this one circulated alongside dated issues during the 1862-1864 period. 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. Many Civil War tokens survive in high grades because merchants and the public saved them as novelties, resulting in a better average preservation than contemporary federal coins.

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 10 cataloged varieties, Godfrey Dean & Co was a notable token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 225U-2A