(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-250I-4b, WI

Coin Details

Description

Civil War-era store card from J.J. St. Louis, a Green Bay, Wisconsin business. Wisconsin was a growing frontier state with Milwaukee as its largest commercial center, and its merchants issued tokens as practical solutions to the coin shortage. J.J. St. Louis issued 9 die varieties, more than most Civil War merchants. This brass striking (Fuld 250I-4b) is common to somewhat scarce among the known varieties. This undated piece entered commerce during the 1862-1864 period when millions of private tokens replaced vanished federal coinage. 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 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 9 cataloged varieties, J.J. St. Louis was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 250I-4b