(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-260A-1G, MA

Coin Details

Description

Merchant token from Billiard Room & Restaurant of Fall River, Massachusetts, cataloged as Fuld 260A-1G. Massachusetts was a center of manufacturing and abolitionist sentiment, with Boston and surrounding cities contributing Civil War tokens as emergency currency. The 10 cataloged varieties for Billiard Room & Restaurant indicate a notable level of token production. The gold composition of this variety (Fuld 260A-1G) is extremely rare for this merchant. 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. The token era ended when Congress authorized new federal small-denomination currency and criminalized private token production in 1864. Gold pieces were struck as special presentation items and are almost never encountered.

Rarity Notes

Gold strikings of Civil War tokens are among the rarest of all metal variants, produced in tiny quantities for presentation purposes or the collector market. With 10 cataloged varieties, Billiard Room & Restaurant was a notable token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 260A-1G