(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-290E-5A, IN

Coin Details

Description

This Civil War token was issued by W.H. Brooks Jr., operating in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Indiana was an important agricultural and manufacturing state, with merchants producing store cards as emergency currency when federal coinage was hoarded. W.H. Brooks Jr. issued 8 die varieties, more than most Civil War merchants. This copper striking (Fuld 290E-5A) is common among the known varieties. 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. Private tokens entered circulation after the suspension of specie payments in late 1861 drained small change from commerce. Over 25 million Civil War tokens were produced before Congress ended private coinage in April 1864, making them the largest private coinage movement in American history.

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, W.H. Brooks Jr. was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 290E-5A