(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-300E-1B, MI

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card from Michigan, cataloged as Fuld 300E-1B. Michigan's merchants across numerous cities actively produced tokens to combat the small change shortage affecting Northern commerce. The brass composition of this variety (Fuld 300E-1B) is common to somewhat scarce for this merchant. Civil War tokens rarely bear dates. This piece was struck during the 1862-1864 coin shortage, when merchants needed emergency small change. 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. The brass composition gives this token a warm golden tone that contrasts with the reddish-brown of copper strikings. 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

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 3 cataloged varieties, this merchant was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 300E-1B