(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-250A-3A, IN

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card issued by A. Jenks of Dublin, Indiana. Indiana was an important agricultural and manufacturing state, with merchants producing store cards as emergency currency when federal coinage was hoarded. A. Jenks issued 6 die varieties, more than most Civil War merchants. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 250A-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. Between 1862 and 1864, Northern merchants produced millions of private tokens to compensate for the disappearance of federal coinage. The Fuld catalog documents thousands of distinct die combinations for Civil War store cards, making this one of the most complex series in American numismatics.

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, A. Jenks was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 250A-3A